Left Behind
by ssaharadesert
Summary: Tony has been stuck in his lab again so the team sends him to sleep while they go out to dinner. But what happens when a certain evil group takes advantage of the Avengers' absence? Slight Tony/Pepper, no slash.
1. Chapter 1

**Okay guys! Well, this is my first published fanfic. So, I hope you enjoy this, and without further ado, my story! **

**Maybe a little ado, I have to have a disclaimer. DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN ANYTHING (YET). **

"Whaddya got, big guy?" Tony asked with faux cheer as he dropped by Banner's lab. "One hell of a headache," Bruce rubbed at his eyes, "Remind me what this substance is again, Tony?"

Tony peeked in the lens of the microscope, "Uh, looks like a simple tetrahydrogen hexaflourine dihydrogen monoxide compound to me."

Banner reeled backwards from the station, standing from his stool suddenly, "Tony, that's…that's explosive! Highly, highly explosive."

"I thank you for your eloquence, doctor," Tony said, smirking, "With your complex answer, I might need a dictionary to understand you."

"Just get rid of it, Stark." Bruce said, "I don't have time to clean up after you today."

"You know, Brucey, I had high hopes for you. Not as high as, say, the Empire State building, but Sear's tower sized hopes, maybe."

"Why do you say that?" The doctor said warily, having long since learned to tread carefully around Tony Stark when he was behaving like this.

"That's not tetrahydrogen hexaflourine dihydrogen monoxide." –"Thank god," Bruce muttered- "That's just glucose."

"What was the point of making me stare at glucose for three hours when I haven't had any sleep?" Bruce asked, a bit testy now that the 'danger' had passed.

"Just testing you. Gotta keep you in top form." Tony grinned.

"Speaking of sleeping…how long has it been since you've slept? Or eaten?" Bruce demanded, well used to how Pepper and he now passed the responsibility of keeping the billionaire on his feet.

"Oh, I don't know."

"Liar. You know, you just won't tell me."

"It's not a matter of not wanting to tell you, it's just that I don't think it particularly pertains to the situation, and it's really not that important when I have these Mark VI specs that need integrating…" Tony trailed off at Bruce's amused look.

"Jarvis," Bruce said, humor coloring his tone, "How long has it been?"

"Jarvis, don't answer that," Tony muttered, but not before the British AI answered smoothly, "It has been two days, five hours, forty minutes and thirteen seconds since Mr. Stark has eaten. It has been two days, six hours, three minutes and thirty seconds since Mr. Stark has slept."

"Tony!" Bruce said, exasperated, "How are you even functional?"

"Believe or not, I am perfectly fine. Do you wanna hear my record for going without sleep or food?"

"Not really."

"One and a half weeks. Would've been two if Mr. Loudmouth here hadn't phoned Pepper back from her business trip early."

"Sir, you were in need of medical attention and my protocol is to first contact Ms. Potts."

"I am quite aware of your protocol, Jarvis, I _wrote_ it. However, you and I don't see eye to eye on what requires medical attention. Or would it be eye to lens? Lens to eye? Eye to microscopic computer fragment?" Tony went off on one of his little mind trips where he could sit and mumble to himself for hours.

Bruce cleared his throat to bring Tony back down to the mundane, "Tony, you should really go get some sleep."

"Jarvis, kindly get Ms. Potts on the phone. Speaker."

"As you wish, sir." The phone dialing could be heard. Tony whistled, looking amazingly awake and energetic when Bruce was falling asleep after only staying up for eighteen hours on five hours of sleep. Then again…Bruce eyed Tony's omnipresent mug of coffee and wondered how much hard liquor was in there.

"Good morning, Ms. Potts." Jarvis said, "Mr. Stark…" He had no time before Tony spoke loudly.

"Pepper, honey, please tell Bruce that I'm just fine."

"Fine? Bruce, are you there? Tony, what did you do?"

"Do? I've done nothing! Brucey wants to kill my fun though." Ton pouted.

"Hey, Pepper," Bruce said, "Apparently, Tony's been skipping his eight and three again." Eight and three was a term that Pepper and Bruce had coined for Tony's bad habits; eight hours of sleep and three meals a day.

"How long this time, Bruce?" Pepper said tiredly, "I only have a few moments here."

"Hey, he's right here, you know!" Tony said irritably, "And he's going to go back to his work when you two mother hens are done pecking around other people's business."

"A little more than two days, Pepper." Bruce said, ignoring Tony completely, "Tell him to go eat something substantial and lie down, will you please?"

"Anthony Stark," Pepper said in a tone that not even Tony could ignore easily, "Are you crazy? Do you want to kill yourself over some little project? There's no toys in heaven, remember."

"Darling, I see a highway instead of stairs in my future; I don't do anything but the fast lane," Tony smirked, "and they have all the little toys in hell I could ask for."

"You're insufferable, Tony," Pepper murmured, "Go to sleep, please. And eat something. I'll call back in a bit, and Jarvis or Bruce will tell me if you aren't asleep." She hung up, and Tony relaxed.

Bruce didn't, however. "Go sleep, Tony."

"Hey, Man of Iron!" Thor greeted them boisterously as he entered the private labs.

"Hey, Goldilocks, what happened to the meaning of privacy?"

"Friend Bruce gave me the code to opening the magic door!" Thor said, grinning.

"Banner…did we not discuss the fine print in our agreement?"

"Fine print?" Bruce said innocently.

"Stark, Bruce, Thor," Steve Rogers greeted them each with a nod, briskly striding into the room, "I was wondering where everyone went."

"What, who's missing at this point?" Tony grumbled, "All we need is Legolas and the Amazing Spider-woman and it's a party."

"Good thing we're here then," Clint Barton said, strolling in causally. Natasha Romanov followed him with her deadly grace.

Tony huffed, clearly expressing that this wasn't his type of 'party'.

"We're going to go get something to eat. Do you want to come, Banner?"

"Uh, aren't you forgetting one extremely handsome, exceedingly charming and all-around amazing guy here?"

"Nuh-uh, Tinman," Clint said with a tiny smile, "You're on bedrest. Orders from above."

"Above? Who's above me?" Tony said, disbelieving, "I believe no one; not when I have Bill Gates asking me for loans."

"Natasha, if you could be so kind," Clint said.

"Pepper ordered it, Stark, if you must know." Natasha said.

"Are the rest of you hungry, 'cause I'm ready to eat now," Bruce said, "Let's leave Tony to his moping."

The rest of the team moved out of the lab, and Tony followed them, almost unaware of that fact.

"Are you really going to be so cruel as to starve me?" Tony whined, "Really, I can think of so many more creative ways to kill a brilliant man such as myself."

"We're not trying to kill you, Stark, you do that enough by yourself." Steve said impatiently.

"Jarvis, lockdown code sequence 92009192-00083666." Bruce listed off in a bored tone. Tony whirled around, probably recognizing the code as soon as Bruce opened his mouth, but it was too late. The lab doors slammed shut, and Tony knew that unless he put in a good hour's effort to hack his own impregnable tech, the doors wouldn't open for at least twenty-four hours; with another four hours added each time someone tried to break in.

Tony rolled his eyes, "Was this really necessary, guys?"

"For your own safety…I believe it was." Bruce said, "Now, go sleep, Tony. We'll be back before you wake up."

"Or so you think," Tony muttered as he headed up the Stark Tower towards his master suite penthouse apartment deluxe.

"Let's go get some food." Steve said as the whole team minus one tech genius left.

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Tony knew the minute they had left. He had changed into pajamas, but felt no need to crawl in between the sheets yet. He had a good three hours if he had the restaurant correct; He was pretty sure he heard Thor butcher the name _Diogeneres vonDiogen_ a.k.a. a place Tony couldn't believe he was missing just to do something as boring as sleep.

The place was supposed to be the Hooters of fine culture.

_Crash!_

Tony left the dreamland he'd entered upon thinking of the restaurant and their supposed reputation at the loud sound.

Had one of the others forgotten something? No…Tony had taken a shower, and that had used up a good half an hour of time. They wouldn't have come back fifteen minutes out.

So who? Tony decided to investigate.

He wanted to call out names of his team, but he knew it wasn't them. So he peered around a corner, and felt his mouth drop.

A.I.M. Advanced. Idea. Mechanics. Tony had taken care of them a long time ago. It had just taken them a while to come back.

Well, with his suit, it shouldn't take too long to take care of them again.

"Hm-hm," Someone behind him cleared his throat, and Tony turned to see an AIM agent looking down at him along the barrel of gun.

**I hope you enjoyed this first chapter! I don't know when the next one will be posted, because I don't know where this is going, honestly. So if you could all do me the honor of telling me what you want to happen, I can try and get something posted quickly here. Thanks! **

**P.S. I don't have a beta, so all the mistakes are my own. If you see any OC-ness or spelling/grammer that is just annoying you, tell me and I'll fix it. Promise :) **


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay guys, this is it! Second chapter of my story. Hope you enjoy!**

He was pushed along through his own house, making sarcastic comments the whole way, until they reached the main area for the team to hang out, their giant living room of sorts.

Tony was quickly tied down. He went to call out to Jarvis to activate the bracelets when he realized he took them off for his shower. Dammit.

"So…where's the giant floating baby head?" Tony asked, "Jarvis, please feel free to call the rest of the team anytime."

"Jarvis won't be answering anytime soon, Stark." One of the agents with a fairly terrible voice modulator said.

"Oh, so now you guys are touching my stuff too?" Tony said, thoroughly pissed now, "Well, now I have another reason to kick your asses as soon as my team gets back."

"Oh, did I forget to tell you? They won't be back anytime soon either."

"Oh, because you're so big and bad that you not only broke into the single best security system in the universe, but you also took down Fury's five pet superheroes? How did you do it, by the way?"

Tony was no idiot. He knew that it would take more than just AIM to capture the Avengers. So either they were working together with a more powerful someone, or they were lying. Tony was leaning towards the second, because when did evil supervillians ever tell the truth?

"Oh, it was simple. After all, we have…leverage." The agent walked behind Tony's head, and he felt the icy metal of a gun metal brush up against the back of his head.

"No, they're a bunch a sentimental idiots. How did you get in here?"

"Ah, Tony. So closed off, so private…yet, so trusting. When will you realize that not everyone is your friend?"

Tony opened his mouth to give a comment somewhere between "I have no friends" and "About the same time you get off your ass and out of my face", but another agent dressed in the typical AIM yellow jumpsuit entered.

"Now, now, be careful. Tony Stark is not alive due to his skill, but the mistakes of others." The new agent said dismissively. It was obvious that these two ran the show, and Tony went over his options. He knew the tower better than anyone, having designed it himself. He knew exactly where each of the weapons were, and he could probably take a leaf out of Clint's book and take the air vents down to his armory. But that meant getting untied first.

"So, who do I have the honor of addressing? No doubt AIM has some new friends." Tony used the only weapons he could at the moment; his wit and his brain.

"You'll find out soon enough." One agent said.

"Haven't you learned patience is a virtue?" The other said. They looked so identical that Tony no longer could tell which was the first, and which was the second.

"Hey, are you two even male? In those suits, I can't even tell. Why do you even wear something like that? Sure MODOK has some kind of fashion sense. Where is the big floating ball of ugly, anyway?"

"MODOK is waiting. Something you seem to not have learned." One leaned too close to examine him, and Tony curled his lip.

"Why don't we just wait for the Scientist Supreme?" Tony was pretty sure that nervous-sounding one was the first one in the room. He tried to use the build of the two to identify them, but the suits were appropriately bulky.

"Master! Message from the Scientist Supreme!" A obvious underling ran into the room, barely looking at Tony. The agents took the letter, but not even a few seconds later, a second underling ran in, crying, "Message from MODOK!"

A few heartbeats later, a third ran in, but this time something was obviously wrong. Blood was running down a cut in his suit. Tony perked up.

"Masters! The Avengers, they…they're…"

"What? Spit it out!"

"A few of them died!"

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"No, no, no…no, this won't do at all." The non-nervous agent paced angrily, kicking Tony's chair (and Tony) when he passed the billionaire. Tony wanted nothing more than to strangle the men, or at least flip them off, but he was firmly in place.

"Fuck," He growled, when the man landed a kick on a place where he had already formed a nice purple bruise, "Do you mind?"

"DO YOU?" The man screamed, turning to him, "DO YOU ALWAYS RUIN EVERYTHING, Anthony?" His voice modulator did nothing to make him sound more pleasant, and Tony was pretty certain he was the kind of demented that even insane asylums give you the electric chair.

"Um, I'm sorry, have I inconvenienced you in some way? Here, why don't you fill out a complaint form, and I'll get back to you around…oh, how about…never?"

"Shut up! Just SHUT UP!" Tony's face was whipped to the side and the man finally punched him. He had been waiting for it all day, wondering when they were going to move past just letting him sit there and move onto the torture. That's how kidnapping/hostage situation usually worked, right?

It still made Tony's heart sink that it would be happening very soon. Soon, they would tire of his comments, or something else would happen, and they would take it out on him. Why not? He was basically helpless, and they needed to vent some frustration.

"If you need anger management, I know this person." He still managed to spit out, "I can hook you up, because I'm guessing that's better therapy than marring my handsome face."

The agent who had hit him took a deep breath. In fact, Tony wasn't even sure the nervous-one was even in the room.

Only one of the messengers was one the room, the last underling with the injury.

"Tell me what happened." The agent turned to him. Tony tried to look relaxed and nonchalant on the outside, but inwardly he was straining to hear every detail. If someone on the team really was hurt…

He stopped the thought right there. They weren't, and neither was he. Everything would be back to normal in a few hours, surely.

The underling glanced uncomfortably at Tony, and the agent waved his hand to continue, "Don't mind him. He's not going anywhere."

"There was a few people with them, master." The underling began, and instantly Tony began to sweat.

Pepper. Pepper Pepper pepper pepperpepperpepperpepper…..

How could he forget that they took Pepper with them? Was she…was she hurt? Was she _dead_? Not Pepper, not his redhead.

It became very hard to breathe all of the sudden.

"We tried to divert them, but they put up a fight."

"And?"

"We did all we could, but in the end, the one big green one was too strong. I'm pretty sure he's dead."

"Any others?"

"Maybe the redhead…" Tony actually blanked out for a few moments when he heard that before he remembered that Natasha was also a redhead, although that was hardly better, "and definitely the blonde one. He was annoying."

Blonde. That could be either Cap or Thor. Tony couldn't imagine either of them falling, and he had to remind himself to keep calm. There was nothing he could do, but Tony Stark has never been good at waiting. Patience was a virtue, but since when has Anthony Edward Stark been virtuous?

"I'm hurt," Tony heard himself say, "You didn't even bother to learn our names before you so kindly invited yourself into our home."

"I know you, Anthony, and that's all that matters."

"Okay, okay, enough with the flattery. Unless you're a hot girl under all those ridiculous suits, it's a little creepy. Even though I am awesome." Tony was well used to acting casual and sarcastic when under a lot of stress.

The agent seemed surprised at how well Tony was coping with the news of the destruction of the Avengers. Tony couldn't see it in his face, of course, but his tone inflected a little uneasiness. And that spoke a million more words than anything the agent and his underling could discuss.

"Are you not concerned about the fate of your friends? They died for you, after all." There it was, a little uneasiness mixed with cautiousness. The agent obviously thought Tony should be losing right now. Tony smiled grimly to himself. The team must still be alive then, by that reasoning. If they were dead, the agent would have no reason to be uncomfortable.

"Last time I checked, I was not the leader of this team. I don't order them around, they're big boys and girls. They can handle themselves. Well, most of them. I'm not so sure about Romanoff and Barton, can't keep their hands off each other for more than a few seconds…"

"That is not what I meant, Mr. Stark."

"Well, look who's getting serious! Should I call you Mr. The Agent now too?"

"Wouldn't you like to know what I did mean?"

"No, because this is the time where you go into that ridiculously long supervillian rant about 'revenge' and 'honor', and honestly, I've heard it all before. We can skip forward to the part where you make a stupid mistake, I escape, and you go to jail."

"They wouldn't have had to die. I had no problem with the Avengers. A silly notion that six people can save the world, but people want to believe in a higher power, as always."

"Is that you, Loki? Are you under all those layers? C'mon out, Reindeer Games!" Tony taunted him, but the idea was just the same as what Thor's brother believed in.

"No, I have a problem with you, Anthony. Believing getting rid of your weapons would help the world. Do you realize how many jobs you cost? How many _more_ people died due to your sentiment? The US can no longer feel confident in her ability to win wars, Mr. Stark!"

"So, is this a personal vendetta or a public one?"

The agent finally turned on Tony, obviously angered by the genius's flippancy. The blow to his jaw was hard enough to send his chair toppling sideways, which bruised his shoulder too.

Tony shook off the stars quickly, wincing at the new wave of pain that was bouncing through his head.

"You, Mr. Stark, will prove your loyalty to the ever righteous cause of AIM and bow down to the man who makes Einstein look like a kindergartener, King MODOK the Absolute."

**I want to take this moment to say that from here on out, the activities and goals of AIM are of my own invention. I'm pretty sure that no comic book writer would be this lame, but I wanted to do something different. **

**And if I haven't answered your review yet, I promise I'll get there! I love reviews since they really do help me know what the reactions to my story are. A favorite doesn't tell me much (but I like those too :D) Feel free to tell me if there is anything you want to see happen, and or any thing I messed up on. I am, in fact, made of carbon and water, so I'm sure there's a few! **

**Thanks again! **


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks to soaringwren for this suggestion! This chapter, and probably the next one, will be what's going on with the Avengers and how they realized what was up with Tony while they were having a nice dinner :) **

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Avengers or else the new movie would be coming out tomorrow instead of in 2014 :D**

The Avengers were hardly inconspicuous, Steve reflected. Their mission was to remain as omnipresent and invincible as possible. Unfortunately, that often required long days of work. And by work, Steve meant endless fighting and violence. Doctor Banner had already left several times, sick and tired of the constant tension and brutality, only to return due to Tony's constant whining.

And it meant there were hardly any days just to relax. Steve had tried on several occasions to treat everyone to a nice evening off. Thanks to SHIELD, most of their personal identities were still concealed. Only people like Captain America and Iron Man were recognizable, one due to a big mouth and the other due to fame.

Tony wasn't here tonight though, and Steve had really thought that tonight would work out. He could take the whole gang, plus Pepper, Jane Foster, Darcy Lewis, and Doctor Selvig, out for a nice dinner. Even Happy Hogan came in with them. It had lasted up until the soup and salad course.

"Watch out, Cap!" Hawkeye yelled, one of his arrows freezing an assailant before he could turn Captain America into mincemeat.

Steve saluted the archer, before throwing his shield into the throng of people. They had surrounded the restaurant and taken the whole place hostage.

"Widow, Hawkeye," Steve yelled, "Take the entrances." Both nodded. Natasha quickly slipped through the crowd of scared civilians to where the main entrance was being overrun. Clint stood on the table and released arrow after arrow back towards the smaller back entrance, while still managing to watch everyone else's backs and keep enemies off of the civilians. He had to be the best multitasker Steve had seen in a long while.

"Thor, get outside!" Steve commanded, "Find out where they are all coming from!" Thor glanced at him, raised his hammer, and then looked at Jane and Darcy. He lowered his hammer and said, "I cannot. There is danger here still."

"Thor, we need you outside." Steve said, dropping down beside the demi-god, "I'll watch them, make sure they get out alive. I promise. No one else can do what you can do."

Thor looked at him for a long moment, and then raised his hammer, clearing a path outside, including an impressive hole in the wall. Steve smiled a little at his determination and consideration, before turning back to the raging battle.

"Mr. Hogan!" He called out, "Go get the car, would you? I think we should be paying our bill and leaving." Hogan grinned as he took a broken leg of a chair and knocked a guy out with it, "I think I'll be of more use here."

"Happy, go get the damn car!" Pepper said, from where she was standing under Doctor Selvig's protection, "And get Tony on the phone!"

"Fine, fine, I'm going." Hogan vanished outside the hole that Thor had left, and Steve turned his attention to Darcy and Jane. He opened his mouth, but Darcy beat him to it, "Oh no, Star and Stripes, I'm staying. And so is Jane."

"You're in danger here, ma'am, and I promised Thor that you would remain safe."

"And we can help! Just let us do something!" Darcy said. Steve looked around, "Alright. If you're careful, you can help escort the civilians out of here. Lead them out of the kitchen and the back. Have Pepper and Doctor Selvig help you, and then go meet Mr. Hogan at the car. And make sure he calls Stark!" He said to Darcy's retreating back. Jane smiled and nodded, following her friend, "Make sure Thor stays safe!" She said as her parting words.

"You stay safe, ma'am!" Steve said, but he wasn't sure if she heard. He then turned and raised his shield just in time to block a blow from the butt of a gun. Steve grunted as he killed the guy, and looked to see how it was going. Most of the enemies were centralized by Natasha. Clint had abandoned his post to help her out, and Steve quickly went to help them out.

That's when he realized he had forgotten someone. Where was Doctor Banner?

"Banner? Banner!" He shouted, looking for him. Tony had made it quite clear that if anything were to happen to drive the doctor away again, there would be trouble. Or if Banner was gone, and the Hulk had appeared, that could cause more damage than good. There were less than fifty men left inside now, and the Avengers could more than handle them.

"Hawk, have you seen Banner?" He said to the archer as the two plus Natasha formed a mini circle. Back to back to back, they worked around each other in a smooth display of teamwork.

"He left with Happy to call Tony." Natasha answered, holding a man down for Clint to stab with an arrow.

Steve nodded, and promptly forgot everything else as the rhythmic motion of battle overcame him.

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When Happy disappeared to call Tony and rescue the car, Bruce figured it would be wise to go with him. Being around all that fighting would not be good for him, and he left, even as the 'Other Guy' roared in his mind in frustration.

The dinner had been nice. The company had been even better. Darcy had proved to be a female Tony Stark in all but genius, but Jane made up for it. Bruce dearly hoped that Pepper and Thor were not the jealous types, because he had a feeling Jane was about to be Tony's newest lab partner. She was smart and nice, and Bruce was positive that Tony would want her to stay with them in the tower after he met her. Not that Thor should have a problem with that. The two, Jane and Thor, showed to be a little uncomfortable with the idea of dating, and therefor even more compatible because of it. They were comfortable, their entire relationship natural and open.

Erik Selvig had proved to be a little more closed. He and Clint had sat as far away from each other as possible, and avoided each other's glances. Bruce thought the two would have gained more from talking about their mutual experience, but neither were very talkative or open people.

Pepper had sat at one head of the table, seeming a little lonely without her loud and obvious boyfriend. Bruce had sat on her right with Happy Hogan on her left. Hogan had always been somewhat in the background before tonight, but everyone had new respect for him. He was a nice man, but also very responsible and wise while still fun-loving and impulsive, no doubt from Tony's influence.

Clint and Natasha had sat on the other side of Hogan, remaining closed off from the group mostly. They had this whole inside language that left everyone else on the outside.

Thor, Jane and Doctor Selvig had sat on Bruce's other side. Cap was then at the other head. Then on Cap's right was Darcy.

But they had all scattered when the attack had happened. Happy tossed Bruce his phone, before both climbed into the limo.

Bruce quickly dialed, thinking the team could probably use Tony's backup at this point. While only a few dozen were inside, another hundred or so were outside. Thor was blasting them as well as he could, but he was slowly getting trapped.

There was no answer from Tony's end, and Bruce nearly broke the phone in frustration. The 'Other Guy' was a lot closer to the surface now, and his movements were now jerky and fast.

Only later would he realize that there was no answer from Jarvis, which was strange and wrong, and proved that something bad was happening at the tower as well as the restaurant.

"You okay back there, doctor? You're looking a little green." Happy said, glancing at him in the rearview mirror as he casually ran over bad guy after bad guy to where Pepper, Darcy, Jane and Doctor Selvig were.

"Maybe I should step out." Bruce murmured, opening the door to let in the other four. Darcy was the last one to climb in. She stood outside, shaking her head and yelling, "I want to stay and help!"

The taser came out of nowhere. Bruce reached for her, definitely seeing green now, but Pepper got to her first, pulling her down and out of the way. But Pepper didn't get out of the way fast enough, and collapsed limply against the ground.

"Oh, my god, Pepper!" Darcy yelled, dropping next to her, looking up to Bruce pleadingly. But Bruce was already running away, growing larger, muscular, until the Hulk appeared, roaring. The woman who had so graciously let Bruce into her life despite the constant danger and treated him like a human being, just like Tony did, was injured.

The Hulk liked that no more than Bruce did.

**0_o What's going to happen? Will they realize what's happening to Tony in time to help him?**

**P.S. If there are any mistakes or anything, I don't have a beta (or the time to really check over it myself). Please ignore them! **

**P.P.S. If I STILL haven't answered your review, please don't be mad! I'll get to it! Would a cyber-cookie make it better? **

**P.P.P.S. Thanks for all the reviews/favorites/followers! Since this is my first story, it makes me happy to know that I didn't completely fail! **


	4. Chapter 4 (plus insanely long AN!)

**Hi guys! Here's a real quick chapter, like maybe three hundred words, just to let you know that I didn't die or forget about this fic! **

**P.S. don't forget to check the bottom AN!**

"We have to do something, Cap!" Clint yelled into his earpiece, "This is getting bad!"

"I think this qualified as bad about a half an hour ago…" Steve said, throwing his shield with all his strength. The good news was that they all had made it outside. The bad news was that they had been separated, and weren't gaining any ground.

The men surrounded the whole building in pockets of about twenty men, making an intermittent circle.

Hawkeye was on the roof, running from one side to the other and back again to try to cover everyone's backs.

Black Widow was at the main entrance. She was unbeatable when it came to one-on-one, but she kept getting overwhelmed in waves, sending Clint in a panic every time.

Cap was trying to fight his way to the hysterical Darcy and the rest of his non-superhero friends.

Hulk was near the back entrance, smashing vehicles and men alike. His roars punctured the air occasionally, startling the men every time whereas the team was used to it.

Thor was also trying to fight towards Jane, a look of pure determination on his face. But he had been out among the men the longest, and was tiring. All of the team was getting tired.

"Where's Tony?" Clint said, "Is he really that stupid, that he'd just let us handle this on our own?"

"It doesn't take him that long to put on his suit," Steve acknowledged, "But for all we know, Stark Tower is likewise under attack."

"It's not," Natasha said quietly, "Jarvis would have alerted us already."

"That is true." Thor said, swinging his hammer heavily, "The invisible man looks out for Tony well."

"So, then where is he?" Steve asked as another man replaced the one he had just knocked down. They were unending, whereas their team was not.

**Okay guys, I have several things to say here :) If the size of this AN is intimidating you, just jump to number three, that's the most important!**

**1.) Thanks for all the reviews and favorites! I know it's been a while, and this doesn't even deserve to be called a chapter since it's so short, but I'm finally inspired again (thank you Joss Wheden!). More to come! **

**2.) I was just made aware by OgichiRocks! that some of you aren't a complete nerd like me and might not know what A.I.M./MODOK are. If you do, feel free to jump to numero trece. And if you don't care to understand (which would help greatly in this fic), again jump to number three. But if this hasn't made much sense to you, A.I.M. is Advanced Idea Mechanics, and they are just people who are crazy about the power of technology. They have a leader, Scientist Supreme, and he is like the nerdiest bad guy you can imagine. It changes with every writer who he is, but generally he is a total dork. They create super-weapons (almost as good as Tony's!) that are revolutionary but absolutely evil :D And their greatest creation is MODOK (****Mental/Mobile/Mechanized Organism Designed Only for Killing****). If the name doesn't clue you in, he is this giant brain basically. And also about the ugliest thing you could imagine. If you don't believe me, google it. Seriously, he is completely disgusting (which I guess is kinda the point). But he thinks just like a supercomputer, and knows the answer to everything. Oh, and the MODOK and AIM want world demoination (but who doesn't?). I hope that clears some stuff up if anyone was confused! **

**3.) Finally the most important one, I need some input. I could go two ways with this story. **

**Way A: Avengers get in some serious trouble. Tony escapes his captors with some serious injuries, and then rescues the team BAMF style :) Could continue into some more injuries for Tony, and then a return of his captors maybe, if people want. **

**Way B: Tony remains a captive. The Avengers win (barely and with some damage to your choice in characters) and they get to Stark Tower only to find that the captors moved Tony. Serious Tony whump and some Avengers BAMF. **

**So whaddya guys want? Please tell me! I like both ways, but I can see problems (for me, not you!) with both, so I'll let you decide! If you choose Way B too, tell me which character(s) other than Tony you want to see mildly injured (but not too bad since Tony is the star of this show) :D **

**Thanks, now that this story has a longer AN than actual story!**


	5. Chapter 5

**So, the result is in! Way A had a lot more votes (which was the BAMF Tony and hostage team) than Way B (which was kidnapped Tony and rescuing Avengers). So this is Way A. For a while it was tied, and i played with OgichiRocks's idea of combining them both, but then that would make asking you guys kinda moot. So this is completely and totally Way A. **

**But! There is a but :) if you wanted Way B, and I am starting a completely new fic as soon as this one is done that is Way B. :D But more of that below, I don't want to deprave you of the Avengers-whump waiting!**

_Bam! _

Captain America's face was whipped to the side violently, causing his vision to blur momentarily and pain to shoot through his temples.

He fell to his hands and knees, shaking his head to clear it. But it soon became clear that he had taken one too many blows, and his head wasn't clearing.

"Cap!" An arrow sprouted from the chest of a man in front of him as Clint's concerned voice came through the comms. But Steve couldn't speak, couldn't move, couldn't see. His head was throbbing, with Clint's words echoing. They left no impression on the captain.

Clint quickly turned to check on the rest of the team. Since he was on the roof, he had the best view of everyone in the parking lot.

First, the civilians. Most of the restaurant's customers had long since run off, leaving Darcy, Jane, Pepper and Happy. Natasha had already checked over Pepper, and declared her fine for now.

But it had all gone downhill from there. Cap looked down for the count. He was just staring blankly into space, and as hard as Clint tried, he just couldn't keep all the men off the fallen supersoldier.

Thor was protecting the four non-superheroes by the limo. Darcy occasionally started chucking rocks at some of the baddies, but Happy and Jane stopped her every time.

Banner was definitely out of commission. Clint thought back momentarily to what had happened…

_Flashback_

_The Hulk roared, picking up a large SUV and throwing it at one of the armored vehicles of the agents, where both cars exploded. _

_One of the agents, probably a leader of a certain amount of men, looked at Banner with fire in his eyes, before unsheathing a large gun. _

_Clint smiled. The men would have a shock when they found out that the Hulk was bulletproof. _

_But what came out of the end of the gun was not a bullet, but what looked like a small speck of light. When it hit the Hulk, it seemed to paralyze him, where he toppled. _

_"Bruce? Hulk?" Clint heard Cap call out, but the Hulk was frozen. _

_"Clint, that was some sort of technology. We need Tony!" _

_End Flashback._

'We need Tony'. That sure was true, Clint thought, as he started to run out of arrows. Several times, he's already had to have Natasha pick arrows out of corpses and return them to him.

Speaking of Natasha…by some sort of physic link, Clint felt her pain before he heard it. Some force turned his head for him and he watched in horror as the redhead fell. Only it wasn't only her hair that was red…

Fluidly, he stood, getting a better aim. Natasha's assailent was soon down, as were the ring of people around her.

Clint looked around for anyone to help her, but he saw that she was already climbing to her feet. He searched her face, and saw that she was doing the same. But unusually, she didn't look calm and powerful.

No, she looked…weary. Very, very weary. A bit of panic and worry washed over Clint, and he frantically tried to figure out the source of her distress.

Then Natasha lifted her hand off her side, and it was covered in blood. Clint felt the world shift beneath his feet as he scrambled off the roof in a manner of seconds.

"Nat!" He gasped as he reached her, "Nat!"

"I'm fine, Clint." She said. They both looked into each other's eyes, and knew. Cap was down. So was Bruce. Tony was nowhere to be found.

"Thor?" Clint whispered. The men swarmed around them, but didn't attack. They assumed Clint and Natasha were going to surrender soon, and we're waiting impatiently.

Clint pulled Natasha towards Thor, and again, the men allowed it. What they saw cleared everything.

Thor was lying limply on the ground. Jane was cradling his head and calling his name, tears running down her face.

"Thor." Clint breathed. Of course the men would want Natasha and Clint to see this. The sight would demoralize the two assassins, and it worked.

Clint looked at Natasha, and she nodded. As he turned, he caught a glimpse of Cap. The soldier was tied and gagged, still with a dazed look on his face. Clint tensed.

"I love you, Nat." He whispered to the woman beside him. She looked over at him, a slight smile playing on her face before turning back to the men.

"Will you surrender peacefully?" A man asked.

**I am terrible! I just feel awful for leaving you here. So leave me a review to complain? Or tell me what you liked?**

**BTW this story isn't going to last much longer! The chapters have been so short, that I'm toying with the idea of posting the whole finale in one huge mega awesome chapter! You'll have to wait a little longer between updates since I don't know when I'll write the finale, but there could only be three more chapters left! **

**Oh, and if you're getting impatient about the Tony-whump/BAMF, it's coming in the next chapter! **


	6. Chapter 6

**Guess what? I UPDATED! YAY! anyway, here's a really long chapter with plenty of Tony-whump as a reward for your patience! **

"King?" Tony repeated doubtfully, shaking his head, "That is a new low, even for MODOK."

The agent righted Tony's chair roughly, "King MODOK shall be great. He is never wrong, and he will make the United States free again."

"Let me get this straight. MODOK wants to give a country more freedom by becoming a ruling monarchy?" Tony said sarcastically.

"That is correct."

"That is bullshit. Are your helmets on too tight? What part of my sentence didn't clue you in to my obvious disdain? My ever present sarcasm? You want to serve your country, then become a soldier. Do some real good in the world."

He should have learned by now that his words would never stop bringing him trouble. Tony had honestly been telling the kid to enroll. But that was never the whole story.

"I DID! I DID HELP MY COUNTRY!" The agent screamed, suddenly whipping his helmet off, "I helped America! I did all I could! I fought and killed for my country! And when that wasn't good enough, I took a missile to my leg for her too."

Tony could only swallow in attempt to keep from becoming nauseous, and keep his face blank. Horror was washing through him. The man's face, he looked to be about late twenties, looked almost melted on one side of his face. The left corner of his mouth drooped, as did the left corner of his eye. It didn't look as if he had a cheekbone anymore either. It was just loose skin, pale and pasty. There was almost a line separating his left side from his right.

"I was a soldier, and I did all I could. But when a missile exploded and sprayed me in a virus designed to target human nerves, I was defenseless. I was sent home without legs, and with my left half completely unreactive."

Watching him speak and move was terrifying, although Tony just looked bored, but that wasn't without effort. His right side was completely animated, lighting up with a furious glint in his eye. But his left was just….dead. No matter how alive he really was, his left side remained still and frozen.

The agent stripped off his yellow suit, revealing jeans and tee. Surprisingly plain and almost fashionable.

"So you really were a guy this whole time," Tony said, smirking, "Could've fooled me."

Then Tony saw the metal limbs. Where there should have been legs and a left arm were artificial limbs.

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The agent stared down at Tony disdainfully, "My name is Agent Qui. My partner Len and I are waiting for the signal from MODOK before proceeding."

Tony shifted his weight to try to get more comfortable, "Proceeding with what? Giving me more helpful information?" This kid obviously had a screw loose in his head, and Tony decided to try to play mind games with him, to trick him.

Right now, Qui and Tony were the only two in the room. But soon, the other agent named Len entered, "MODOK is on his way. He should be here in ten minutes."

Ten minutes. Tony had met MODOK a few years ago, and had run into him too many times to count; usually it ended with jail bars between them.

But MODOK was not to be underestimated. His mental powers were astounding. Unless Tony had his suit on, the genius doubted he would be able to overcome the baddie's paralyzing telekinesis.

"Ten minutes is too soon, "Qui muttered, "It has to be later, it has to be later!"

"Why? MODOK…"

"MODOK will take this man and turn him into a mindless drone! I have to make him see, I HAVE TO MAKE HIM SEE!" Qui tore at his hair and moved as if in extreme agony. Tony was careful to school his features into bland disinterest, but his mind was racing on the inside.

"Make him see…what do you mean?" Len asked, sounding almost astonished. However, Len still had his suit, and therefore his voice modulator, on whereas Qui did not.

"Do you know what Tony Stark did to America when he stopped supplying us weapons?" Qui whispered suddenly, "MODOK must make him the chief supplier in our war against freedom."

"MODOK wants him dead, you know that!" Len said, sounding nervous again.

"I know that, I know that." Qui sounded as if he was trying to convince himself.

Tony's mind was whirling. The Qui guy…he was really messed up. A plan slowly started to form in his mind.

"Qui…" Tony spoke up. The fire in Qui's eyes had him quickly correcting himself, although he really just wanted to tell the man to fuck himself, "Agent Qui. I have a plan for you."

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"That's your plan." Qui repeated, not sounding doubtful, but instead thoughtful. Tony nodded slowly, trying not to look too eager.

"Yes. You in?" Now was not the time for jokes.

Qui stared Tony down for a few moments. Tony didn't waver and blink.

"I'm in." He said each word distinctly. Len muttered nervously from behind Qui.

"Do you have a problem, Len?" Qui asked angrily, turning on the other agent, "I will have you killed! I WILL TELL MODOK OF YOUR BETRAYAL! HE WILL burn you. HE WILL destroy you. You're WHOLE FAMILY will die. Tonight. You have no more time left, Len." Qui had switched so quickly from being against Tony to with Tony that the other agent had no time to recover from his shock. Len just wordlessly gaped at Qui, slack with disbelief.

"Now, Tony." Qui said conversationally as if he hadn't just been threatening a man, "Let me get you out of those restraints so you can show me the way to your labs…"

Qui flicked out a pocketknife, and Tony eyed it warily. The blade glistened as if covered in some clear liquid, and Tony wouldn't be surprised if that was poison.

The knife was just brushing against the ropes around Tony's wrists when everything went to hell.

"Are you in need of assistance, sir?" Jarvis asked smoothly, already fully aware that Tony did. The AI had probably already called the police.

Tony couldn't see Qui, but he could feel the fire in his gaze as he glared at Tony. Tony cursed on the inside, having known exactly what happened.

No doubt when they attacked the tower, they disabled Jarvis. It was quite a feat, and Tony was sure only a large group of AIM agents could have accomplished it. They were the extreme future technologists after all. He expected nothing less of them, or they wouldn't be worth his precious million-dollars-a-minute time.

But Jarvis had a safety feature, a four-hour wait period. If Tony hadn't reactivated Jarvis by then, there was a code written that opened his most basic features. Well, by basic features, he meant the important features, even if they were extravagant.

And one of his basic features was to call the police.

Qui walked out in front of Tony, bending over with his hands on his knees, and put his face right in Tony's until they were almost brushing noses.

"Did you activate the robot?" He asked softly, almost gently.

"No."

But surely you wrote a code that would. You're Tony Stark, are you not? I have no doubts."

"I-"

"DON'T LIE TO ME, ANTHONY!" Qui screamed, ripping himself away from Tony, "You have less worth than I thought!"

Tony saw it coming, and reacted. But it wasn't nearly soon enough.

Tony threw all his weight backwards just as Qui swung his arm out with the knife. The tip brushed across his collarbone as the chair fell backwards with a resounding crash.

Tony felt the crash in every bone. Unlike when he had been knocked sideways, he had wanted to go backwards as quickly as possible. When Qui had hit him, he had used what little he could move his feet to try to slow the fall.

He had done none of that now. Pain shot through his body, and as soon as that faded slightly, a burning took its place.

Definitely poison, Tony thought, deadly, lethal, poison.

_Maybe Pepper is right, I will go to heaven._ He thought, _Maybe. Maybe. _

Slowly, almost lovingly, Qui leaned down and pressed on the deep bruise on Tony's shin that that very agent had left him. Tony grunted and struggled to get away.

Then, Len was punching Qui in the face.

"MODOK said not to kill him!" Len screeched, "King MODOK is ruler of all! King MODOK's rule must be obeyed!"

Qui screamed, feral and wild. He picked up the nearest thing to him and chucked it at Len as hard as he could. But Len ducked out of the way, and the projectile hit the wall that wasn't even two feet to the right of Tony.

The wall exploded into flames, revealing whatever thing Qui had chosen as his weapon was flammable. Personally, Tony would have bet on some sort of napalm bomb or something. God knows what those crazy AIM agents carried around with them these days.

"Shit!" Tony whispered, struggling to clear his head, struggling to think. And struggling to get away from the fire that was slowly eating its way towards Tony.

Qui and Len continued to fight, completely ignoring the trapped genius. Tony was dazed, and he could practically feel the heat of the poison spreading through his veins.

"TONY STARK MUST NOT DIE NOW!" Len screamed, "MODOK MUST BE THE ONE TO END TONY STARK'S LIFE!" Well, Tony thought, at least I have one guy on my side, even if he does want me dead eventually.

The fire began to lick at Tony left side. The chair started to blacken. His skin turned bright red. Tony fought with all his strength to pull the chair away.

Out of nowhere, Len was leaning over him, pulling the chair away from the flames.

Qui was laying on the ground, completely unconscious.

"Jarvis, douse the flames!" Tony commanded, but the AI didn't answer. Tony cursed whoever had disabled his friend this time. Or maybe that just wasn't one of his basic features. Tony didn't know at this point.

One good thing came from the fire, and that was that Tony's ropes were singed and burned (along with some of his skin) and with some minor pulling and twisting, they snapped. They left his wrists bloody and raw as well as burned, but Tony tried to ignore it.

It still felt like his hands had just been stuck in a pot of molten lava.

"NOOO!" Len screeched, lunging at the billionaire, "MODOK! MODOK, COME QUICKLY!"

Tony shook the agent off, knocking him into the one wall that wasn't in flames. A sudden eruption of flame distracted Tony, and he looked in fascinated horror as Qui went up in flames.

In what had to be one of the most disgusting things Tony had ever witnessed, he saw the plastic melting off Qui's face, revealing blackened bone and skin. His skin melted. The metal dripped and twisted, crackling merrily. Tony was almost sick.

Len landed a solid punch to his temples that sent him stumbling. Stars echoed across his vision, and there was so much pain for a moment Tony thought he would end up like Qui; unconscious and burning to death.

"No!" He grunted, thinking of Pepper, and forcing himself up. He couldn't get to his suits. He couldn't use Jarvis. It was just him and Len.

And apparently, MODOK would be here any moment. Tony had to escape, or at least get one of his suits, before MODOK got here.

So Tony did one of the most douche-y things he could, and nailed Len right between the legs with a metal pipe laying on the table behind him.

Len didn't even react.

"What. The. HELL?" Tony shouted angrily.

"Tony Stark, surrender!" Len said, "I do not want to harm you before MODOK!"

Tony flipped him off, glad he could now do so, and tackled Len hard. Then, Tony ripped the suit of the agent, revealing…

A robot. Tony gasped, instantly recognizing the designs. He looked like a mini compact Iron Monger, one of Obi's designs. It was like a slap to the face for Tony, and he struggled to remove the helmet to see. He just had to _see._

_Obi is dead. Obi is dead. Obi is dead. Obi lives through his designs…_

Len struggled, but Tony was desperate, and quickly had the helmet off. And there was just a normal looking man inside.

Tony quickly knocked him unconscious with some technique that Steve had taught him, and he stood. He had to use the wall for support as dizziness washed over him.

By now, the whole room was in flames. Tony was standing right next to the door, thankfully.

Qiu was nothing more than a large bonfire. Tony just had to glance that way before he was losing what little he had eaten three days ago.

When the nausea had passed, he stumbled out of the room.

"Jarvis?" He rasped, his throat suddenly sore from the smoke, although Tony suspected it had started hurting a long time ago, and he was just now noticing.

"Are you alright, sir?" Jarvis answered immediately, "I was blocked from that room by an unknown user."

"I've been better, J," Tony admitted, "But douse the flames."

"Right away, sir." Tony walked towards his front living room, where the elevator was. He had to get to the labs for his suits…

"Sir, someone has entered the master suite and is approaching quickly," Jarvis said just as the elevator doors slid open to reveal MODOK.

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"MODOK." Tony said, trying to remain invincible, although he knew he looked bad.

Trying to describe MODOK was like trying to describe how water tastes. There was no words for it other than bland, although in this case the word would be _ugly._

His metal shell was hovering a foot or so off the ground, powered by tiny little jets. His tiny arms and legs waved around angrily. And his face was twisted in extreme fury. It was almost comical. **(AN: If you haven't looked at a picture of MODOK at this point, you probably should. It'll really help. Cause he is a pain to describe!) **

"Tony Stark." MODOK's voice was like nails against a chalkboard.

"If you don't mind, I'm going to just slip by you." Tony said, inching his way around towards the elevator. MODOK watched him without amusement.

He needed to get to the labs. He needed his suits. But MODOK was not going to move, and with his freaky mind tricks, he could easily send the weakened genius flying out one of the windows, and he didn't have his bracelets this time…at least Loki had granted him that courtesy…

The bracelets! Tony had left them in the bathroom when he had showered.

"You can not pass, Tony Stark." MODOK said blandly, "MODOK will stop you."

"Stop this, dick!" Tony chucked a nearby table lamp at him with his flagging strength, and raced back towards the private rooms where his bathroom was.

"Argh!" He heard MODOK cry, before the sound of the jets increased and Tony knew he was being pursued, "MODOK will catch you, Tony Stark!"

_Bathroom. Bathroom. Bathroom. _Tony chanted, trying to force his tired body to run. Then, just as Tony thought he was just going to have to stop, or die right there, he saw his bedroom, and from there, the master bathroom.

"Yes!" He said as the slipped the bracelets over his incredibly tender wrists. The bracelets moving against the raw skin was pure agony, and Tony gritted his teeth as blackness washed over him for a moment.

Tony made it out into the master bedroom before MODOK caught up, and Tony grinned at him before purposely tossing himself out the window.

"NO!" MODOK said, "MODOK will follow!"

Just like with Loki, Tony thought he was going to splatter, fall to his death. But his suit got there in time, just like always.

**(AN: So, I rewatched that one scene of Avengers where Tony is falling, and I will admit, it's been a while for me since I've seen the movie. And just that one little tiny scene had me squealing like a demented fangirl. I swear, it was pitiful. Just imagine if I were to watch the entire movie now…)**

Tony spun in the air, feeling every little bit of his body complain as the suit pressed against different parts of his body. He hadn't had time to put on his neoprene suit (it wasn't true neoprene, but something of Tony's own design. He just called it neoprene for convenience and not because, as Clint said, he had run out of ingenious names for his designs), so the metal of the suit was irritating to small bruises and cuts he had.

"MODOK!" He yelled, "I'll give you a five second head star…" He trailed off as he saw the most comical sight ever unfold in front of him.

MODOK , the chubby machinery, was falling from the hole that Tony had left in his living room wall.

**(AN: At this point, I was so excited about that one scene that I had to just watch the rest of the movie. Every time I see the 'A' at the end of the movie on the Stark Tower, I get chills, and I just basically can't focus on anything but the epicness that is that movie!)**

** So basically, I ended up losing motivation to write here. That movie...wow. I love it like I love coffee in the morning (I seriously love coffee). **

**So I leave you with a nice long chapter and one word of advice; review! :) **


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry, guys. I feel like this chapter is a disappointment. I wrote it when I was half-asleep, so my grammer and such is really lacking. If things don't make sense, that's because I'm seeing it differently in my wacky mind. Just throw my a review to let me know, and I'll fix it once I've *yawn* slept. **

Tony had no idea what to do with MODOK at this point. Shooting him out of the sky had its merits, but then he had to worry about the baddie squishing some civilians.

Tony was NOT going to save that thing, either. Let him fall to his death. Hell would freeze and heaven would fall before Tony even considered it.

So that left…what? Tony hesitated, before deciding that the civvies would just have to move. He took careful aim with his repulsors and…

_Crack!_ A mind shield, courtesy of your evil neighborhood man-robot, shot up. MODOK grinned maniacally as he continued to slowly fall, his jets keeping him from outright falling, though definitely not supporting his weight.

Warning signs lit up all over Tony's HUD as the suit blocked some of MODOK's mind games. Tony had to go on the offensive.

He fired up the thrusters, and began circling MODOK, trying to dizzy him so his shield would fail. No such luck.

'Well, Tony, what now?', the genius asked of himself, 'For a man who shot a nuke into outer space, you're being pretty lame on this.'

Tony decided just to go for it all the way, no planning involved. The way he did best, the way Starks _always _have done best.

MODOK had no defense as the strength of Tony's repulsors firing at closer range and the power needed to run the jets to keep from free-falling became too much. His jets flickered and sputtered before resuming, which distracted him, and his shield to drop momentarily. And a moment was all Tony needed.

MODOK screamed as he spiraled towards the ground, his face burnt.

Tony watched dispassionately as the thing crashed into the pavement, not hurting anyone but himself, and became lodged in the cement.

"Jarvis, call Director Fury. Tell him he needs to send a retrieval team to outside the Tower, and pick up a package." Tony said tiredly, "I'm going after the Avengers."

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Tony hurt. Every inch of him complained. Loudly. Much like Tony himself. But the genius hardly even noticed as he boosted his thrusters to their full capacity to hurry to the restaurant where his friends were.

He didn't even stay long enough to watch MODOK get arrested, which was a mistake.

But halfway to the restaurant, a new pain made itself known, or more accurately, made itself known _again._ **(AN: At this point in time, this was not here when I first updated. But a unknown Guest pointed out that this was an unresolved plot point, and so I fixed it :D THANK YOU UNKNOWN PERSON!) **

Tony had been brushed with that poison knife, and the burning was quickly becoming unbearable. However, when his arc reactor flickered, Tony knew that he couldn't blow this off much longer. Who knows what kind of poison this was?

"Jarvis, analyze this. Quickly." Tony said, dropping to the pavement and stumbling, very unlike him. Civvies started to scream out his name, but Tony ignored them as best he could while remaining upright.

"Sir, this seems to be a poison of AIM's own design." Jarvis said, "Most likely designed to target the arc reactor or shrapnel residing in your chest cavity."

"Just what I thought," Tony grunted, "Any ideas how to fix it?"

"Go to the hospital?" THe AI suggested mildly.

"You know what I'm going to say to that, J."

"I do indeed, sir. Creating an antidote in a timely manner would be highly improbable. Might I suggest a dose of Carbon 17 Hydrogen 19 Nitrate, sir?"

"Dose me up." Tony said, relaxing as the morphine flooded in his bloodstream though a tiny built in needle. This convenient feature was the result of Pepper's worry. She hated to see Tony come home every time in constant pain, and decided that as long as Jarvis monitered his dosage so he didn't become addicted, this would help ease her worry slightly.

"Sir, may I remind you that the Carbon 17 Hydrogen 19 Nitrate will not actually dispose of the poison in your bloodstream, it'll just remove the pain for a few hours..."

"Yeah, yeah, I know all that, Jarvis." Tony said, boosting up his thrusters and shooting into the sky, "But I feel great, so let's just focus on that, and saving the team, and worry about other things later?" **(AN: Bet you guys can see what imma gonna do with this little plot right here! :D) **

"Oh, no." He whispered when he saw the situation that waited for him at the restaurant. The Hulk, not Bruce Banner, but the actual _Hulk_ was unconscious, laying in a large green pile. Tony never saw something more stunning in his life. The AIM scientists…figured out how to sedate the Jolly Green Giant? The snarky side of Stark wondered if he could borrow that next time Tony accidently set the Hulk off in his lab, but he quickly became serious again.

The faintest flash of blue and red signaled where Cap was, and he didn't look good. 'Ole Stars and Stripes was tied, and Tony felt a lasting flash of anger when he saw that the soldier was also gagged. Tying him up was okay with Tony, given their tense relationship, but to gag the image of America? Not cool.

Tony couldn't see any more from his vantage point. He was hiding behind a chimney on the roof, cursing his ostentatious armor, not for the first time. A plan slowly began to form, and Tony smiled grimly when he realized it was his favorite kind; one that could either go really well or really bad, one that had no middle ground.

One that was self-sacrificing.

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Natasha gasped silently as her face was whipped to the side again, spitting out blood angrily. Clint and her were beat, and they knew it. Soon, like Cap, they were bound and gagged. It boiled her blood, but she couldn't find the will to see them take her rebellion out on Clint.

"Now, now. I know she can be very annoying, I know that personally, trust me, and what she says isn't always the most respectful, but do you really need to gag them?"

Natasha almost leapt to her feet, the anger of the sight of the man in front of her reenergizing her. Tony Stark, without armor, without any protection of any kind, approached the group of enemies.

He was wearing a normal suit and tie, and Natasha could just tell by the way the clothes were laying that he had no bullet proof vest.

Why had he waited so _damn_ long before showing up? With this his idea of a fashionably late entrance? Was he so proud that he would wait this long? _What was wrong with this man?_ That last questions, along with others, floated through Natasha's mind. The last one especially, since she had thought it so often.

"Tony Stark." One of the agents that was the self-appointed leader, stepped forward, "Were you able to give greetings to our leader, MODOK?"

Tony shrugged nonchalantly, "I suppose. Nick Fury and him wanted to chat, though, so I gave them some privacy." He smirked in that way of his that was both infuriatingly annoying and hilariously funny, depending on the situation.

"Ah, I see." The man nodded, understanding Tony's reference, "And our Scientist Supreme? Qui?"

A dark shadow passed across Tony's face at this, his face tightening, "Yes." It was short and cut off, speaking of something bad that had happened.

The leader clicked his tongue, "And you think you could just free your friends by yourself? No SHIELD agents? No suit?"

Natasha wanted to know the same thing.

The shadow disappeared, and carefree Tony was back, "Well, as you'll soon find out, I am a freakin' master of awesome, so yeah, I do think that."

The leader was amused, "As we'll soon find out? Why don't you explain what you mean?"

Tony spread his hands placidly, "Release my friends and you won't have to find out."

"I grow tired of your jokes, Tony Stark." At the leader's words, around three dozen guns were raised and fixed on Tony.

At this point in time, Clint and Natasha were now not the only ones awake. Cap was stirring, and was conscious enough to recognize what was going on, even if he couldn't escape.

Thor was also stirring, but he had been bound and gagged tightly while he was out.

With the exception of Bruce, who was not around at the moment, all of the Avengers watched as the agents opened fire upon the helpless genius.

**Again, this chapter is a disappointment in my eyes. It's short, and lacking the whump that I want to post. Next chapter, definitely. *Yawn* god I want sleep...please review while I get my zzz's, so when I get up I have a nice full inbox? **

**BTW please check out the poll on my profile! It's Avengers, and will help post a new story thats stalling a bit since I couldn't decide. So you guys vote for me! :D **


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey guys! For all of you who thought that this story was almost over, surprise! Hey, and check out Chap 7, I made some changes thanks to an unknown Guest. :)**

It's sort of ironic, the way life works. It has a way of balancing itself out. Like, there can't be too much good or bad in the world at one time. One minute you can be flying along, assuming that you're going to save the world, and next thing you know, you're being shot full of holes.

Or so Tony thought as the first bullet raced towards him, before stopping millimeters short of his body with a _ping!_

Actually, that's what all the bullets did. Tony smirked, too arrogant to admit that for a moment he thought his plan hadn't worked, and too proud to breathe out the sigh of relief that came with it.

"Hold your fire! Hold your fire!" The leader yelled, staring at Tony in amazement, "What sort of man are you?"

"An Iron Man," Tony said, before his armor rippled into appearance **(AN: At this point, just imagine that BA music that played in the first IM movie when Tony first put on the complete suit and it started at his feet and worked his way up. You know the music, when he's in his garage? That one? You know…) (AN2: Yeah, what Tony just said is incredibly cheesy, but in a Disney type way. You know they would do something like that. And honestly, I just couldn't resist, it was too good!)**

Tony's next development in armor was the invisible suit, but he had run into some difficulties in the production phase. He, of course, had tried stealing the specs from the invisibility panels that covered the helicarrier, but they just reflected their surroundings, so those wouldn't work. In the end, Tony had been able to make the suit completely invisible, but hadn't found a way to make himself turn with it.

The genius had put in away in the corner of his mind until very recently. And now, it was perfect. It looked as though he weren't wearing armor at all, when, in fact, he was. A brilliant plan worthy of Anthony Stark himself.

The leader was out before he even had time to blink. One down, at least a hundred to go.

But these men were not used to surrendering, and Tony was the sole focus of their attack.

It sound of bullets ricocheting off the armor resumed with a furious intensity. Normally, Tony could have stood there all day and laughed, but this armor was not his Mark VII. It's was a lightweight version of the Mark V (Tony called it his Mark V and ½). This suit would probably give out in under six rounds at close range, not including the factor of how AIM's bullets were not normal.

Tony fired off several repulsors, but couldn't risk staying in the line of fire any longer. He spun up and above the men, circling around while firing off some more shots. Then, as much as he wanted to swoop in and save Natasha and Clint, he had to go take cover.

New bruises the size of apples had appeared where several bullets had bent the armor inward. Tony growled, knowing that it would take too much time and effort to fix it right now.

He needed a plan, and he needed a way that would take out more than a few men at once. The thought of using the unibeam passed through his head several times, but that was more of a last resort. So what?

_Pulse bolts._ A weapon Tony had never really had a cause to use. The bolts picked up kinetic energy as they traveled, so they became more and more powerful the farther they went.

Usually too weak to do much at close range, but extremely helpful in this situation. Tony peeked out from behind the smokestack on the restaurant that he was hiding behind, took careful aim and…

_Bam!_ Three men fell as the invisible energy hit them. But this move had an unforeseen side effect.

"There he is! Fire at will!" One of the men shouted, and the intense rain of bullets began again. Tony cursed, deciding if these idiots wanted to open fire, they could. He'd just have to be too quick for them to hit.

One quick boost from the thrusters sent him flying through the air, faster than most could follow with their eyes. His automatic targeting system kept his aim true, though they could do nothing more than guess and shoot.

Tony had to free his team. Even in his most arrogant moment, he knew he couldn't truly take down this many men alone, especially while injured.

Around a third of the men were down or dead, but Tony was faltering. More than an advised amount of bullets had hit the armor, which occasionally was giving off sparks. Tony felt sore and hurt and was just in _agony_ all over, but he didn't complain.

Not when Thor and Captain America were being guarded heavily, where Tony couldn't get them.

Not when Natasha and Clint were being loaded in the back of a van, as if they were going to be taken away.

Not when Darcy, Jane, Happy and especially Pepper (his Pepper!) were being threatened at gunpoint.

"Stark!" One of the men yelled out loud, "We'll shoot if you do not surrender immediately!"

Tony didn't answer, as another voice was superimposed over him, "Stark! Stark, Director Fury will be there shortly. No matter what, resist!"

_Agent Smudge._ Tony thought. Agent Smudge's real name was Agent Inkmear, which sounded a lot like 'ink smear'. Tony had instantly coined the derogatory term, and everyone had taken to it quickly. It wasn't easy for anyone for Agent Coulson to be dead, and they hadn't purposefully made it hard for the newbie, but no one was comfortable with Inkmear.

"You want me to resist when my girlfriend's life in on the line?" Tony asked harshly, "Not going to happen, Ink Smear."

"Stark, as a unsanctioned SHIELD agent, part of a regulatory SHIELD operative on SHIELD grounds in a SHIELD led case, I have to force you to continue fighting! One life, however important, is not worth AIM winning this fight!" If it was Smudge's sole goal in life to use as 'SHIELD' as many times as possible in one sentence, he suceeded, according to the billionaire.

Said billionaire definitely didn't like Ink Smear now, as the new agent gathered from what Tony said to him next.

"Go fuck yourself." Tony spun and landed in front of the agents, "I surrender! Release them!" He said.

"Will you come peacefully?" The agent who now assumed the role of leader asked, sounding nervous.

"I will," Tony said, teeth gritted.

"No, Tony, don't!" Clint cried out, fighting his way free of the bonds, "Don't do it!" A random agent swung a heavy punch into Clint's stomach while another held the archer's wrists and snapped one of them. Clint was then unceremoniously tossed into the back of the van.

Feeling sickened at the treatment of his friend, Tony retracted the face plate as a sign of complacence, "I will surrender peacefully."

"Out of the suit," The leader said with a nasty grin, "I'm sure it has much to teach us."

Tony almost blasted that guy from here to Jupiter, but knew that would only harm Pepper and the others.

So when the man dropped dead, Tony was confused more than anything. Had he really shot the man?

He started to panic, thinking only of Pepper, but a neatly dressed man dropped beside him, "Stark."

Tony breathed a sigh of relief, "Ink Smear. Bout time you guys showed up."

And all hell broke loose.

**Hiya! If you haven't looked at the poll on my profile yet, I would really like you too! It's about Avengers, and the Black Panther. It's in a three way tie right now. If that tie isn't broke, it's going to be a while before a new story is posted!**

**But thanks for all the support! You guys are amazing, and it just blows my mind that this story is actually popular. I know the whump wasn't all I promised, but it'll get better the more used to this I get, promise :) **


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey guys! Thanks for all the support! Hope this chapter isn't too bad...I'll post Chap 10 up here in a few minutes since it's all written :D **

Tony instantly gunned for his girlfriend, nearly crushing the man that held her to death.

"Pepper," He said, retracting the face plate from where it had slid down just moments before, "Pepper, are you alright?"

"I'm okay," Pepper sounded shaky, but stood strong, "Just…"

Tony hated seeing Pepper scared. She didn't show it to anyone but him, but he saw all the signs. The pale face, the lack of a smile or wit, the tense pose.

"Pepper, I love you," Tony said, wanting so bad to fly her far, far away but knowing he had a duty to his team.

"I love you too. Now go, Anthony Stark. The world needs you." She kissed him lightly.

"Stay with Darcy and Jane. In the restaurant. Please, please, be safe, Pep. Please. For me."

"I will be," She promised, "Go. SHIELD needs you."

Tony nodded, face plate sliding into place. He took off without another word, knowing that it would be painful to leave her no matter what.

"Stark! Get your team out of here!" Ink Smear commanded, "My team has this."

"Got it, Smudge, do what you gotta do." Tony said, spiraling towards the van that held Clint and Natasha and landing on the roof.

He blasted a hole in the cab, surprising the drivers. "I'll give you five seconds," Tony said.

They shared a panicked look and shot towards the door, but were burned to a crisp before they even got them open.

"Whoops," Tony said, "I guess my timer is malfunctioning from all the bullets you guys shot at me. My bad." He then fired at the guys surrounding the van until he felt he could safely get to the back of it.

"Clint? Natasha?" He ripped the doors of their hinges, mostly blocking the gunfire from entering the back of the van. His suit couldn't take much more of this.

"Tony." Natasha said as she supported a pale Clint. Actually, they were both unusually pale, but with Natasha's normally fair complexion, it wasn't as obvious.

Then Tony smelled the gas that had been pumping into the airtight back, and gagged. Usually the suit had a filter, but it had broken long ago under the gunfire.

"Carbon monoxide?" Tony choked out, "And you guys are still standing?"

"Barely," Clint croaked out, "But we had to stay awake to chew out your ass, Stark."

"Get in line," Stark joked, "You're after Nick Fury, but before Pepper."

"I'll make a note," Natasha said shortly, "Are there medics?"

Clint complained almost instantly, "I don't need medics!"

"Clint…" Natasha said in a dangerous tone of voice, "You do what I say, and I say you need medical attention."

"No can do, Itsy-Bitsy Spider," Tony said, "No medics. I'm going to go get the Star Spangled Boy Scout and Point Break, and then we're getting the hell outta here, got it?"

"We're leaving?" Clint asked blankly at the same time Natasha exclaimed, "They need us here, injured or not, Stark!"

Tony cut them off, "Orders from above. Take it up with your boss if you want, but I wouldn't advise it."

Natasha and Clint shared a look, before starting towards the nearest SHIELD vehicle. With Clint's limp and the injuries both had, it was slow. But they knew how to take care of themselves. Tony had other people to worry about.

First, Captain America. Tony hovered in the air, but was reminded that he had to keep moving when a bullet landed on the same spot that three others had, this time actually piercing his skin.

Tony sucked in a sharp breathe, but ignored it after that. There. Cap was completely unconscious, or at least doing a good impression of it, and being ignored except for three guards.

Tony dropped down heavily next to one, knocking him out with one solid punch. Another butted the inventor in the head with his gun, but Tony spun and broke several of the man's ribs, before slamming him to the ground.

The third had time to prepare, however, and fired several rounds of electromagnetic energy pulses at Tony. The suit's shield was quickly thrown up, but it only lasted around three rounds.

The last three rounds knocked Tony backwards, spinning him head over heels before his body smacked the ground. He gasped, feeling like he couldn't breathe.

When he was finally able to stand, Ink Smear had taken out the guy for him.

"You okay, Stark?" Both men were panting heavily, bloodied and tired.

"Peachy. You?"

"Just fine."

"Good to hear." Tony looked around, "Cap?"

"Already cleared."

"Banner?"

"Also cleared."

"Thor?"

"Not clear." Ink Smear shifted uncomfortably, "Listen, Tony, I know you aren't going to like this, but these men are practically invincible, and I've already lost a lot of men. Fury refuses to send more, for reasons I'm not allowed to say, so I'm going to have to ask you to stick around. Neither Agents Barton nor Romanoff are fit, nor is Banner or Rogers. I doubt Thor is either."

"No problem, Smudge," Tony said, interrupting him, "Just make sure you get Ms. Potts out of here, along with Happy, Jane and Darcy."

"I will do that, Stark. And…thank you." Ink Smear actually sounded sincere for once, and Tony laughed, "Save that for later, when I single handedly save all your asses."

Ink Smear muttered something, but Stark was already high above the crowd, searching for the best spot. It was unibeam time. Tony wanted to go home ASAP, and what better way than kill off fifty men at once?

_Any other way,_A voice suspiciously like Pepper's said in his mind, _since this is a surefire way to get yourself killed. _

Tony shrugged internally. He was sore, and tired, and overall in a pretty Hulk-like mood.

"Hey Inky, do me a favor." Tony said, "Call of your agents, or they'll be nothing more than charred bananas."

"Stark, what are you doing?"

"Charred bananas, Smudge. Two seconds."

Ink Smear hardly hesitated, and Tony saw a bit of the spirit that made Phil Coulson so good at his job, "Team Delta Phi, retreat. Teams Alpha through Gamma, retreat. I repeat, all teams retreat. Clear out now, men!" He shouted, moving to clear men himself. Tony watched as Ink Smear tackled a baddie just to save of the SHIELD agents, and felt respect for the first time.

"Kay, Tony, let's do this." Tony said to himself.

"Sir, may I remind you…"

"Not now, Jarvis."

"But sir, I must insist…"

"Jarvis." Tony said, "_I_ must insist that you don't waste your breathe. Or technically, nothing, since you don't breath. Remind me to think of a good substitute for that."

"As you wish, sir." Jarvis sounded resigned, and he fell silent.

Tony almost smiled; if it weren't for the situation, he would have. Then, once he was sure that Ink Smear had gotten everyone clear, Tony fired off the unibeam.

**So have I mentioned how awesome you guys are? Really? Cuz you are. :) **

**Please check out my poll! I'm giving you guys two more days before I close it! And if you don't know who the Black Panther is, just shoot me a PM. I promise I don't bite! **

**But I might bore you to death with my geek-talk. Really, I just can't get enough of Marvel and The Avengers. If I ever find love, it'll be in a comic store probably. **

***Sigh* **

**But hey! I know most authors ask for reviews, but this time imma change it up! I'm asking for FAVORITES this time! Just so you guys don't go *ugh, I have to type _another_ review? I'm so sick of these things!* Now you just have to click your mouse twice, and you'll be on your merry way! **

**Thanks! **


	10. Chapter 10

**This is a nice long chapter for you guys! I said this was going to be posted like two days ago, but then I changed my mind. I was tired of posting short little chappies, so here's a real chapter, whump and all! Well, less whump and more team!worry/caring for Tony. **

**If you see a mistake, either ignore it or let me know about it! **

Natasha gritted her teeth as she supported Clint. Neither of them were the most coherent, and Clint just felt like deadweight to her.

But she never wanted to let go. She wanted to take her knives, track down who did this to them, and take their eyeballs and force them to…

"No." She said out loud to herself, "Don't go there, Natasha Romanoff."

Clint glanced at her, "I've been telling myself the same thing. It's not working nearly as well as I'd hoped."

Natasha knew in that instance that he felt exactly the same way as she did, and was just as angry and murderous.

But Clint was also hurt, and that made Natasha all the more deadly.

When they reached the SHIELD vehicle that prominently displayed the eagle, the assassins found Cap, Thor, and an un-green Bruce.

"Aw, Tony's missing all the fun while he's at work." Clint smirked.

"If this is what you call fun in the twenty-first century, I feel pity for America." Steve said, but he sounded drowsy and not quite aware yet.

"How's Thor?" Natasha asked lowly, glancing at the unconscious demigod.

"He'll be fine, we're thinking, but whatever they used to take out the Hulk did some damage to him."

"I want to look at what they used," Bruce spoke up softly, but firmly, "It might come in handy…just in case."

"Doctor, don't think like that." Natasha said, as Steve clapped the smaller man on the shoulder and said, "You're not a danger, Bruce, especially not to us. We don't need that evil technology."

Bruce didn't looked convinced, but he let it drop. He leaned against the side of the vehicle and shut his eyes. Cap did the same, looking like he was about to fall over. Natasha turned to Clint, in time to see him wince in pain.

"Clint, are you okay?" She asked softly.

"I'll be fine, Nat." Clint said, "As long as you are."

Natasha didn't know whether to feel affronted or warmed by his words, so she choose both, "I will be. I always am, as long as I see you standing."

There, as SHIELD agents swarmed around them, Clint lightly pressed his lips against hers, spreading the unfamiliar feeling of be cared for through Natasha's veins.

A bright light exploded behind them. Both almost ignored it, but they broke away. Neither smiled, but stared at each other deeply, needing no words to convey how they felt.

Then the light stopped, and sudden realization hit Natasha hard and strong. She had only seen that light a few other times, the most prominently being the first time. When Tony had nearly killed himself.

That was the light of the unibeam.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"What was that?" Steve slowly opened his eyes, squinting towards the light, "Was that a bomb?"

"Worse." Natasha said flatly, "Tony's unibeam."

Bruce opened his eyes and stood straight up quickly, "Where?"

Clint gestured widely towards the battleground in front of them, "Somewhere in there, I'm guessing."

The four tried to find the conspicuous genius in the crowd, but couldn't find him.

"Looking for me?" A raspy voice said behind them. They whirled around, each reaching for a weapon, when they saw that it was Tony.

Then they actually looked at Tony. His suit was falling apart, to the degree where there was all sorts of exposed under layers, with wires poking out occasionally. Sparks flew off a few. There were even a few spots that Tony's bloodied skin peeked through, though normally the armor was too thick and heavy to break down to the skin.

He slid the face plate up, and more injuries greeted them. Blood dripped down the side of his face, he was pale, and his pupils were much too large for the bright afternoon sun, though it was dipping quite low towards the horizon, probably around six at night. Cuts and bruises littered his face, though he didn't seem aware of them.

"Please tell me that's not all your blood," Clint pretended to wince, but he was right. The armor was coated in the red liquid, adding to the grotesque sight.

Tony looked down slowly, before saying just as slowly, without his usual eloquence or charm, "No. It's not mine."

"Tony, you have a concussion," Bruce said, quickly sitting the billionaire down in the passenger's seat of the SHIELD vehicle, "I need you to take the suit off."

"No! I have to find Pepper!" Tony struggled, and Bruce realized that the concussion was messing with his friend's head. Or at least, he hoped it was the concussion.

"Chill, Tony," Natasha said, helping Bruce settle him down, "Pepper is just over there, she's fine, I'll go get her…"

"Stark!" The whole team winced as Inkmear's voice came over the comm's with interference, "Stark, do you copy?"

"I copy," Tony said tiredly, "What's up, Smudge?"

"South flank needs some backup, and you're the only person fit to do it."

The team thought that Tony looked like the least fit person to do anything, but the genius was already far above their heads, his suit practically vanishing.

"I don't like this." Bruce said finally, "Tony looks really hurt."

"He does." Clint agreed, "Wonder if they," He jerked a thumb towards the captured AIM leaders, "know anything about what happened to him?"

Steve was the first to approach the tied men, standing impressively over them, "Answer our questions, and you won't get hurt." He said, now sounding the opposite of tired. He had a job to do now, and he wasn't going to let some head injury get in his way.

"We ain't sayin' nothin'." One spat at Steve. Natasha started forward angrily, but Clint held her back, "Steve's the best interrogator out of all of us," He whispered to her, "Except maybe you."

"She did get Loki to talk," Bruce added quietly, "That's quite impressive."

"Just a matter of smoke and mirrors," Natasha shrugged.

The sound a hard punch, skin hitting skin, sounded, and they saw Steve standing over one of the men, who was now unconscious.

"You next, unless you talk," He growled. The man gulped, but stared flintily at Steve. He was soon also out like a light, leaving three more.

It was the fourth man who finally broke down, after seeing three of his companions drooling lifelessly on the ground.

"Fine! Fine!" The man yelped, "Stark was kidnapped! By Qui! And Len!"

The fifth leader shouted obscenities at the squealer, but was unable to talk after Steve knocked his into oblivion.

"There, now we don't have to worry about him anymore," Steve said conversationally, "What were you saying about Qui and Len?"

"He was held in Stark Tower by them, and the plan was MODOK was supposed to have him by now! MODOK the absolute will have you all!" The man struggled.

"He was tortured?" Natasha asked fluidly, "Answer me, was he tortured?" That seemed to have more meaning to her than to the rest of them.

The man nodded quickly, "Yes, yes, he was!" He began sobbing brokenly, and the team turning away in disgust.

Steve sighed wearily, hurting for his teammate, "And he's out fighting right now…"

"Don't judge Stark, Captain," Natasha said quietly, "This is how he copes with torture."

"He's been tortured before?" Bruce asked. Whatever weapon they used on the Hulk (and Thor) had put the monster to sleep, and though Bruce was angry, the monster stayed deeply buried.

Natasha hesitated, before nodding, "I won't tell you anything though," She said, "That's Tony's story to tell."

Steve and Clint nodded, accepting that, but Bruce looked ready to argue. Inkmear interrupted them, however.

"Avengers," He said, "They are all rounded up. Stark, return to your team, and meet us at the helicarrier for a debriefing."

The team agreed, but Tony's voice was suspiciously absent. The team wondered where he was until he crashed right next to them.

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

Tony shot into the sky as soon as Inkmear said that the south flank needed help. He didn't want any of his team getting hurt after their recent hostage situation. The genius didn't even think for a moment about how he had also been a hostage.

He ducked and weaved around the men, his suit slowly falling apart.

"Sir, the repulsors are averaging at 30%, thrusters averaging at 20%." Jarvis said. Tony nodded, already knowing that.

"Intergrity?" He croaked, twisting out of the way of spray of bullets.

"Integrity and force field at functioning levels. Integrity at 26%."

"Thanks, J. Record Storage Wars for me, will ya?"

"Of course, sir. Ms. Potts will be upset that you'll be late."

"Let her know, and that I love her."

"As I always do, sir." Jarvis said.

"Thanks, Jarvis," Tony said again, shooting straight up in the sky only to dive down as fast as he could with the built up potential energy to slam ten men into unconsciousness.

But the morphine shot he'd had earlier was wearing off, and he had no more drugs on him. He could feel the poison, and he could feel his other wounds.

Basically, he was back to square one. There were less men, so maybe he could just go to his lab quickly and fix up an antidote…Jarvis had said the antidote was highly improbable, but Tony was a classified genius, and could probably do it in time…

"Avengers," Inkmear said out of nowhere, "They are all rounded up. Stark, return to your team, and meet us at the helicarrier for a debriefing."

_Thank god_, Tony thought, taking a hairpin turn so he was heading straight towards the team. He was actually worried about his own heath this time, and slightly panicked, though it didn't show. He wanted Bruce to at least know before he passed out, so the doctor could fix it.

But it was too late. Tony just barely saw the smudges that were his team before his eyes fluttered shut and he fell limply to the ground.

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

The team, except for one unconscious Thor, surrounded Tony quickly, each leaning over him worriedly.

"Steve, strip the suit." Bruce commanded, "Clint, get the helmet."

Since the armor was already so patchy, neither warrior had any trouble pulling it off until it was just Tony, laying on the pavement.

He looked so much smaller without the armor, Bruce noted dully, more civilian, less hero. Less suited to this life style. No wonder Pepper was constantly in a state of worry and concern for her boyfriend.

"Someone should get Pepper," He heard himself say. Natasha volunteered, and quickly left.

Bruce looked over Tony critically, his heart pounding in compassion. First was Tony's face, which was cut and bruised liberally. The doctor wouldn't be surprised if the inventor had a concussion, based on the wound on the back of his head.

A black eye was noticeable, and that infuriated Bruce more than anything. The rest of these injuries could have, probably didn't, but could have come from fighting, which was Tony's choice. However, a black eye came from someone's punch, and with the new information on Tony's kidnapping, Bruce knew someone had deliberately hit the man, forcing Tony to sit and take it.

There was a long cut across the chest, a few inches above the reactor, almost reaching the critical jugular.

His wrists were burnt, raw and bloody.

A bullet wound was bleeding slowly by his hip.

The injuries just kept going, and Bruce kept getting more and more numb as he went on.

"Tony? Tony?" Steve heard Pepper before he saw her, and then her and Natasha came running into view.

Pepper stopped dead for a second when she saw her boyfriend, her hand instantly going to her mouth, "Is he…?" She choked out, eyes wide.

"No," Steve hastened to reassure her, "No, he's okay. He'll be okay."

She dropped down by his head, brushing his forehead, "Tony," She whispered, eyes bright but not crying.

"I called an ambulance, Pepper," Natasha said, resting a hand momentarily on the redheads trembling arm, "They'll be here soon. We'll follow them to the hospital."

No one bothered to let Inkmear now about these developments. If it had been Coulson, he would have been there with the team. But no one wanted the newbie around right now, unfairly blaming all this on him.

The ambulance did arrive quickly, and the team minus Tony and plus Pepper piled into the limo that was being driven by one Happy Hogan. Darcy and Jane were inside already. It spoke legends about Tony's wealth that he had a limo big enough to fit all of them comfortably.

Pepper sat by Happy in the front seat. Jane sat by the unaware Thor, talking softly to him, urging him to wake up. Steve sat on the demigods other side, hoping his two team members would be okay.

Bruce sat off by himself, an empty seat beside him seeming to become large by the moment. Normally a loud energetic inventor would be there, but not now.

Natasha and Clint sat stonily, not acknowledging anyone.

Darcy tried to comfort Bruce, but realized it was hopeless, and settled for making small chat with Steve and Jane.

Happy kept up with the ambulance very well, having learned how to navigate New York traffic quickly, especially since Tony had challenged him to more  
than one race on the crowded streets.

Thor woke not long after Happy called out that they were halfway there. Disoriented, he glanced around hazily.

"Thor," Jane said, relieved, "Are you okay?"

"Lady Jane," Thor said, smiling largely, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Thor," Jane said, wrapping her arms around his neck, "I was worried about you."

"No mortal can best me," Thor boasted, "You have no cause of worry." The demigod glanced around the cabin, "Are not the Avengers missing one?"

"Tony's hurt, Thor," Steve said quietly, "We're going to the hospital now."

"Hospital," Thor said thoughtfully, "I have heard of such a place."

Jane quickly explained to him what a hospital was in detail, and how injured Tony was.

"Your tale sounds of how Man of Iron fought valiantly," Thor said sorrowfully, "We shall see if it was worth it."

The limo fell silent again, the silent deep and oppressing until it was broke by one scream.

Pepper's scream.

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When Pepper had seen Natasha running towards her, she hadn't panicked right away. But part of her wondered where Tony was, and if he was okay.

"Pepper," Natasha said, "I need you to come with me."

"Is it Tony?" Pepper said automatically, following with the only thing she usually said during a battle, "Is Tony okay?"

Natasha pressed her lips together, "Come with me, Pepper. He needs you. He's pretty injured."

"How injured?" Pepper demanded, "Is he going to be okay?"

"I don't know." Natasha shook her head, "The longer we wait, the worse he could get."

Pepper had nodded and followed the fellow redhead quickly, stripping off her heels so she could run faster.

When Pepper had seen Tony, lying lifelessly on the ground , she hadn't tried to assume the worst. But part of her asked the fateful question anyway.

"Is he…?" She choked on the words, trying to stop them, but ultimately failing.

"No, no. He's okay. He'll be okay." Steve said hastily, from his position at Tony's side.

Pepper dropped down by Tony's head, brushing his skin softly, comfortingly, with her fingers.

"Tony." She murmured, willing him to wake up, but nothing had happened.

Tony hadn't heard her.

When Pepper had climbed into the limo to follow the ambulance, with Happy Hogan driving, she hadn't meant to break the laws. But part of her begged Happy to follow the ambulance as quickly as possible.

Pepper was surprised that no cops had pulled them over yet. The traffic pulled over to let the emergency vehicle through, and Happy bulldozed through them to follow.

She had a tight grip on the door handle, skin white.

The other were talking in the back, but Pepper pretended not to hear them, though each word echoed through her head.

Her eyes remained locked on the vehicle in front of her, but she breathed steadily. Passing out was not an option.

The wash of red and blue over her was life and death.

When the ambulance in front of her exploded, causing her to scream loudly in shock, Pepper hadn't tried to panic, assume the worst, or break the laws. But she had done all three.

Pepper ran out into the traffic towards the burning mass of metal.

**I hope this is good! I read back over the whole story whilst writing this piece, and felt almost uncomfortable with it. Like, it's a lot gory-er than I originally intended, and really, more creepy than I'm comfortable with. I don't want to rewrite it, but it's kinda weird. Now I feel kinda like a bad writer. :( **

**So shoot me a review to cheer me up! Or tell me you agree with me, whichever applies :D **

**PS! My poll is closed, forevermore! You missed your chance! And since it is a tie, I'll be choosing which I want to do among the two choices. **

**Thanks to the NINE people who polled (is that the proper term for it?). You guys rock. So do my reviewers/favoriters! :D **


	11. Chapter 11

**Special thanks to Special Agent Ali for pointing out one of my mistakes in the last chapter! I've fixed now, so no worries. **

**I think someone else may have pointed it out, but I couldn't find that review in my inbox, so if you did and you aren't Special Agent Ali, I'm sorry! Just yell at me a little in a review, and then I'll fix it. **

** This is a little bit of character reflection, and absolutely no action. I'm sorry, I'm sure you're all dying to know what happened to Tony, but that'll be posted soon :) **

The Avengers. Heroes, misfits, a ragtag team of messed up people.

Each was special in their own unique way.

Captain America, the first Avenger. Steve Rodgers received a super serum, and became a super man. He took up the mantle of America, alongside with his friend Bucky, who he lost to the war.

_Steve didn't want to lose another friend. He had had his differences with Tony Stark, but this man, who was nothing more than a civilian at heart, didn't deserve this fate. _

Thor Odinson, Prince of Asgard. The God of Thunder had learned the hard way what it meant to be a warrior when his father cast him out of Asgard for his foolishness. Thor had become a true leader among his people. Loki, his brother, had not tarnished his wisdom.

_Thor didn't want Tony to be harmed. He had thought his own brother had killed the man once, but Tony had survived against all odds. Thor admired Tony's stubborn struggle to live. _

Hawkeye, archer and SHIELD agent. Clint Barton never missed. His aim was as true as his intentions. His moral compass never faltered, even when Loki had twisted his mind. It had always been there, urging him towards good even as Loki forced the evil upon him.

_Clint had never doubted himself, until Loki had showed him the error of his ways. Clint respected Tony's confidence in doing what he believed to be right, even if it wasn't. Tony never had a hint of doubt, even when he was heading towards certain death. That faith in self, and others, humbled Clint. _

The Hulk, invincible and terrible. Bruce Banner had never asked for this gift, even as he tried to use it to the world's advantage. He struggled with it daily, treating it as a burden. He couldn't see a way out of this hell of anger and red hot rage washing over him constantly.

_Bruce had never had a friend like Tony, who acknowledged the monster and even talked to him as if he were human. Tony was Bruce's glow at the end of the tunnel which no one else could light. Tony had his own burden in the arc reactor, and Bruce wished he could accept the Hulk the way Tony accepted the glowing circle that kept him alive. _

Black Widow, master assassin and SHIELD agent. Natasha Romanoff had no alliances until Clint Barton had been sent to kill her. There, he saved her life and forever changed it. She had no alliances to SHIELD, but just to one of its agents and what he stood for. She had been told that she didn't have a heart, but Clint had proved otherwise.

_Natasha had known Tony the longest. She was the only person who knew about Pepper's gift of Tony's first arc reactor. Both Tony and Natasha had been told they hadn't had a heart. Natasha thought someone couldn't be more wrong about Tony. She had seen the recklessness that sent him to the front of the lines, and realized it was really Tony being selfless, something he wasn't credited with. Natasha was selfish, and recognized Tony's altruism. _

None of the team knew much about each other. Basic knowledge was kept to a minimum, and only SHIELD knew the full story behind each member.

It wasn't a lack of trust, but rather a unspoken agreement of protection, that kept secrets hidden and whispers quiet.

Yet Tony knew each and every Avenger as they were, honest and without reserve.

Tony had been there when Steve was confused and lost in modern New York, and explained to him how to use the elevator. They had a long talk about Steve's past, and Tony had learned the whole story about Bucky and Hydra.

Steve had never learned a single thing about Tony in that whole conversation.

Tony had been there when Thor was struggling with the betrayal of his brother, and had mentioned how he had likewise been betrayed. Thor had spilled his heart about how Loki had been more than a brother, and now he was forever more a traitor. How he wished Loki would just talk to him.

Not once did Tony say who had betrayed him, and Thor hadn't thought to ask.

Tony had been there when Clint had been given a tough mission days after the Battle for New York. The assassin was supposed to go kill an important official, who happened to be very high up in the coporate ladder of Stark Industries. Tony had offered to take the mission instead when Clint had fought with the remaining of Loki's whispers. Clint hadn't wanted to miss, he hadn't trusted his own judgment and aim.

Clint hadn't known if Tony had known the target, or if he was one of Tony's friends. Now Clint wished he knew if that mission had been harder for Tony than for Clint.

Tony had been there when Bruce had been caught in a wave of anger, and had battled for control. Tony had talked to the doctor, and when the Hulk inevitably won, he had calmed the beast. Tony had soothed the green monster, and told him about his own problems. Tony received a broken arm and concussion for his attempts, but the Hulk still had listened to Tony, and that alone kept him from destroying anything but the inventor.

Bruce had wanted Tony to open up for so long, and he regretted that it had been the beast that Tony had talked to, instead of one of his best friends.

Tony had been there when Natasha was about to run away for a few days, to 'clean the red of her ledger'. Tony had asked her if it was a good idea, and Natasha had realized that Tony did care. Only Clint actually cared about her, but Tony wasn't going to let run away on her own. Tony set up a flight for her, and accompanied her.

Tony had been completely understanding, and Natasha wondered how many other times he had helped others out when there had only been a few to help him in his whole life.

Anthony Edward Stark. 'Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist'. Each of the team knew nothing more of the man.

There was so much more to Tony Stark, but no one ever asked.

And now, they might not be able to.

**Awwwwww...Poor misunderstood Tony. :(**

**Hey, would you guys want me to write a series of one-shots about the scenes described above? It might be fun, and I'll finish this story first...just tell me in the reviews if it sounds like a good idea! **

**Please review! **


	12. Chapter 12

Time moved in slow motion…...Happy saw each individual flame rush from the ambulance…heard Pepper's breathless scream….felt his own hands turning the wheel even as he remained fixated on the burning mass in front of him….

Time sped up again, and Happy yelled, "Everybody out! Out, now!" He jerked the wheel to the left so fast that the back end of the limo fishtailed and came inches from slamming into the ambulance.

The Avengers were out and around the ambulance in a matter of seconds. Happy kept Jane, Darcy and Pepper from joining them. Darcy was yelling, but her words were unintelligible. Pepper was in shock, and Jane kept her arms around the shaking woman comfortingly even as tears slipped down her own face.

"Thor! Clint, and Natasha! Get the paramedics!" Captain America commanded instantly, his voice steady and confident, "Bruce, stand back. I'll get Tony!"

"Avengers! Bow down the master of all, MODOK!"

Before the whole team's eyes, the ugliest man-robot they ever saw rose from behind the wreckage of the ambulance. His face was burned, and his outer shell cracked, but still grinning manically. Steve gritted his teeth in anger, and threw his shield as hard as he could. It bounced off a crackling force field, and landed too far away from him to get.

"Change of plans, Cap?" Bruce asked quietly, eyes pure green and hands shaking violently. Cap took as sharp breath, "Bruce…I wouldn't…"

"Don't worry, Cap," Bruce said, even as his skin began taking of the electric hue of the Hulk, "I'll keep the destruction to a minimum." The roar shook the whole block, and the monster launched himself at MODOK.

"Get the medics, now!" He yelled at his other three team members, before turning the back where Tony was, "Hold on, Tony," Steve whispered, "I'll save you. Just hold on."

The Hulk couldn't get past the force field either, but he kept trying, which was just enough distraction to let the rest of the team work.

The burning hot metal of the ambulance doors burned Steve's hands, but they were already cracked open, making it easier to rip them off and toss them to the side. The actual explosion had come from the engine and cab, but the back was still burning also. Tony was just a pale, dark haired figure on the floor, not moving.

Cap picked him up gently, fingers instantly searching for a pulse on his neck. He found one, but it was weak and slow, and Tony was struggling to breathe. Panic had Steve tense, but he didn't slow as he exited the ambulance.

"Where's a medic?" He called out, lying Tony gently on the pavement. He guessed that moving him around too much wouldn't be good for his condition. He kept one hand on Tony's shoulder, feeling his chest move unevenly, and glanced around for his team.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ /\/\/

Thor had been closest to the door, other than Jane and Darcy, and he had been the first to reach the cab holding the medics.

The door was quickly gone, and Thor reached for the men. One was only stunned, blood running down his shoulder. Another was unconscious, a ugly bruise forming on his temple.

Clint and Natasha each took one of the men, and set them down, far away from the wreckage. Thor raised his hammer, and yelled as lightning crashed down around them.

Lightning crackled against the force field, but that just gave MODOK more power. His eyes began to burn for it as he cackled unpleasantly, sparks shooting outwards from the sphere that encircled him.

One spark shot out and connected with Thor, who was standing too close, and sent him flying for twenty feet. Over the limo he went, nearly taking out a group of civvies as he landed on his feet.

Cap's shield was nearby, and the god picked it up. He glanced around the Steve, and saw him kneeling nearby Tony's prone body.

Just the sight of the fallen teammate energized Thor, and he threw Mjӧlnir as hard as he could toward MODOK.

Thor returned Cap's shield to him, also kneeling by Tony. Clint and Natasha joined him, while the Hulk roared in the background, still determinedly attacking MODOK.

"Game plan, Cap?" Clint asked, stringing a new arrow on his bow, "We can't all fight this thing. Someone has to get Tony out of here."

As much as the whole team wanted Tony safe and sound, no one wanted to leave MODOK. Each wanted a chance to take down the villain that had brought all this pain on the team.

Dusk was falling, and it was quickly turning to night. It had been around four hours now since the team had left the Tower.

"Can Happy and Pepper take him?" Natasha asked.

Cap shook his head, "MODOK seems particularly interested in Tony. I would rather not leave him without a guard."

A hint of smile passed over Natasha's face, "We'll keep him busy," She promised, "You, and the other four, take Tony to the hospital."

Cap hesitated, but not for long, throwing his shield to block a pulse beam from MODOK, who was getting increasingly annoyed by the Hulk.

"Okay," He nodded, "Keep in contact. Let's do this, team."

They broke. Thor reached for Mjӧlnir, and it flew to his grasp. Clint took careful aim and released an arrow at the same time Thor's hammer hit the force field.

It faltered momentarily, and everyone noticed. Steve felt a moment of pride. That was an advantage his team could use. Combo moves were not their strong point, but they had gotten better at it. Each had started to learn that they were not individuals, like they had been for so long, but a team.

Natasha used a unintentional boost from the Hulk to shoot feet-first towards MODOK, and almost breached the force field, before she was sent flying backwards.

Captain America took that as his cue to leave, and gathered Tony up in his arms before commandeering a car from a nearby civilian.

"Happy," He yelled, and the group of four came running.

"Yes?" Happy asked, instantly getting in the driver's seat.

"Exactly." Cap nodded, turning to Pepper, "Can you keep him from moving around too much?"

Pepper looked like she wanted to blink, and just have this whole incident be over, but she took Tony's head in her arms, and cradled him gently. He barely stirred. Whereas only his arms had been burned before, now his shoulder and back was enflamed and tender.

Darcy and Jane were forced to stay behind, as Tony took up the entire backseat, and Cap was shotgun.

"Be safe. For Thor, and for me." He told them.

"Just make sure Tony's okay," Darcy said, "He promised to show me his labs, and I will hold him to that promise."

"I'll call Director Fury," Jane offered, "I think he should now."

Cap smiled, "Thank you, Ms. Foster."

Then he climbed into the front seat, and Happy drove away quickly.

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ \/\/

Tony first started to stir right after Happy hit the gas pedal. Pepper brushed at his face, encouraging him to wake up softly.

"P-ppe-?" He asked groggily.

"Shush, I'm here, Tony, I'm right here." She soothed, "You'll be okay. Just stay with me."

"N-vr…dre-md…of…lee-v'n." He said, eyes already fluttering closed, "Hur's, P-pp-r."

"I know, baby, I know. I know it hurts. Just hang on for a little bit longer." Pepper took one of his hands that was rubbing at the arc reactor and gently kissed it.

"No….reactor…." Tony began to press on it hard, face twisted in pain, "Pepper, the reactor!"

While Steve noticed Tony was getting more coherent, he was also starting to writhe in pain.

"Jarvis?" Pepper asked, voice worried, "Jarvis, are you here?"

This wasn't Tony's car. He didn't have his phone, or any of his tablets. No suit. There was no AI to helpfully assess the state of Tony's reactor.

"Something wrong with the reactor," Pepper told Steve, "I don't….I don't have one…I don't know what to do…."

"Stay calm, Ms. Potts," Steve said, turning in his seat to face her, but the panic was clear in his eyes too, "The hospital will know what to do."

"Captain, the hospital doesn't have any spare reactors." Happy said, glancing in the rearview mirror, "Only the Tower, helicarrier, and one other hospital on the other side of the city does."

"Then why aren't we going there?" Steve asked, louder than he meant too.

"It was too far away! Do you want him to die?" Happy shouted also, face hard.

Pepper gasped, almost inaudibly, and Happy instantly felt guilty, "I'm sorry, Pep…I didn't mean it. You know that."

"Of course, Happy." She murmured, "Just…any hospital. I don't know what to do."

Tony had stopped writhing, as his energy gave out. Now he was just muttering, pain still clear in his face. Pepper tried to comfort him, but the pain was too great for even Pepper Potts to help with.

"Shh, Tony, it'll be okay, I'll make it better, I promise," She said tears pooling in her eyes as the man she loved went through unimaginable pain. But she refused to cry, and the tears didn't fall.

"We're here." Happy said, whipping into the parking lot faster than a Nascar driver does doughnuts in the winner's circle.

Cap carried Tony into the emergency area, yelling for nurses and doctors. Under the fluorescent lights, Tony looked pale and the different wounds stood out in sharp relief.

Pepper kept one hand locked around Tony's wrists, and felt his pulse, hardly beating. It was sluggish and slow, and worry about the arc failing was constant. What if the shrapnel was already….

The doctors came then, interrupting Pepper's thought, for which she was grateful. Happy carefully unlocked her fingers and Cap passed Tony onto the stretcher, and then he was gone.

The shock of having there one minute, and gone the next, almost undid Pepper. She choked on a sob, but the tears still didn't fall. Happy led her to a chair, before leaving to move the car so other emergency vehicles could make room.

Cap also left, saying he needed to make a call to SHIELD for an update.

People came and went. Pepper barely saw them. Just faceless shapes and figures, a random hum in her ears. The word 'Stark' caught her attention, but it was just the stock market channel announcing the final amount at closing.

She recognized the medics that had been in Tony's ambulance come through. They looked alright, and were awake.

Pepper didn't notice Happy or Cap come and join her. Or the rest of the team later on. She just sat, unaware of anything.

Except the clock, announcing each hour as it passed. Seven…eight….nine….ten…

One tear fell down Pepper's face. The rest refused to follow.

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Natasha saw Cap leave with Tony, and was glad. Now he would be fine, and these pesky worrisome feelings she had could away.

She could focus solely on MODOK, and what a challenge he was.

"Nat!" Clint said into the comm, "Come, I need help!" She was there within seconds.

Every time Clint fired off an arrow, a spark of force field would shoot out and disintegrate it. Clint needed a distraction.

And what was more distracting than a fiery redhead and giant green monster?

The Hulk seemed to realize that, while she was not a 'friend', she was friendly. He understood the basic concept of timing his smashing with her attacks, and reveled in the damage they caused together.

Good. After the incident on the helicarrier, Natasha never wanted to be on the Hulk's bad side again.

All four attacks came in at once. Mjӧlnir sent lightning crackling over the whole force field, which prevented any shocks from shooting out. Clint's arrow and Hulk's fists shattered the force field into a million pieces, and Natasha's dragon kick sent him wheeling backward, screaming.

None of them hesitated to attack. MODOK's shell laid in broken pieces everywhere before long.

SHIELD agents poured in, arresting MODOK, and carrying him away.

But the Avengers were long gone, already at the hospital with Pepper, Happy and Steve.

**You guys have been awesome on pointing out the little mistakes I make, so keep it up! I didn't really proofread this one, so I'm sure there going to be something. :) **

**Thanks for all the reviews! There aren't that many chapters left *gasp!* **


	13. Chapter 13-Last Chapter!

**GUYS! I'M BACK! **

**So, sorry about the long break here. Life has been HECTIC with a capital STRESSED. **

**So why have I chosen now to update? I'm glad you asked!**

**IRON MAN THREE. OMFG. No words can convey how I'm feeling right now about that movie, which I just saw for the first time last night! Whoo-hoo! **

**So, I'm emphasizing the next word for a reason: ********_EXTREME_**** SPOILERS********** at the bottom of this page. **

**Don't worry! If you haven't seen it, there are no spoilers in this story. And there will a large space between the end of this story and the actual spoilers, so you won't see it on accident! **

**Now, this is it! There was a large change in feelings between this and my last chapter, but I feel like I've been dragging this on long enough :) **

It was a flurry of activity when four loud and demanding superheroes and their two friends entered the emergency waiting room. Doctors froze what they were doing just to stare.

Natasha led the group to where Happy, Pepper and Cap were waiting dejectedly.

"Any news?" She asked Pepper, but the woman was just staring blankly at the door to the ICU.

"None," Cap confirmed, "It's going to be a long wait." Natasha expected as much, and settled down between Clint and Cap. Thor sat down on Happy's other side, with Jane. Darcy and Bruce opted for chairs by Jane.

Not much was said during this time, though questions circulated plentifully through small glances and slight gestures.

Five hours into their wait, Pepper finally stirred. Happy squeezed her shoulder comfortingly as she blinked, "Why?" She whispered.

Cap's heart throbbed in compassion for the younger woman, "I know it must be a shock, ma'am," He began, but never finished.

"No, _why?_" Pepper insisted, "MODOK, what did he want? Why?"

Understanding passed through the faces of everyone. Pepper wasn't having a breakdown, she wasn't freaking out, she was just…being Pepper. If there was one thing the Avengers and Co. had learned about Tony's girlfriend, it was that she was the constant professional, constantly acting for the public eye.

And now she was doing what she did best: organizing the facts and data and coming up with a solution, and 'business plan' so to speak.

"He was extremely interested in Tony," Clint said slowly, "Something about StarkTech?"

"That's probable," Steve said, "But why try to kill Tony if he wanted Tony to build him something? Why not kidnap him?"

Pepper shuddered deeply at his words, going ever paler, if possible. Happy shot Steve a dirty look and wrapped an arm around the slender redhead in comfort.

Steve was bewildered, but Bruce and Natasha both sighed, each wearing their own personal versions of weariness. They were the only two Avengers who knew about Tony's past, after all.

"Did I say something?" Steve said in an undertone to Natasha, on his right.

She nodded, but didn't elaborate, and Steve fell silent, not wanting to upset Pepper any more than he already had.

"So, why?" Pepper asked again, meeting the eyes of everyone present, including Steve, "What could Tony have that A.I.M. doesn't?"

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The doctors finally arrived in the waiting room with news on Tony, only to find everyone asleep.

Five hours after Tony arrived, Darcy and Jane had went to get shawarma, hoping it would cheer the team up.

Six hours after, Happy and Darcy began to nod off.

Seven hours after, Jane had fallen asleep in Thor's arms, and the god began to snore quietly.

Eight hours after, Cap was drifting off, and Clint and Natasha soon followed. Neither assassin wanted to sleep, but both needed rest after their carbon monoxide poisoning.

Eight and half hours after, at 3:30 in the morning, the doctors were bewildered to find so many people sleeping outside the ICU doors.

It appeared everyone was asleep, but in fact, two people were still awake.

A redheaded woman got to her feet as soon as she saw them, the bags under her eyes dark but she had showed no sign of sleepiness.

Another man with dark hair, glasses and a world-weary expression also got up slowly. He cleaned his glasses as he walked forward to greet the doctors.

The man leaned forward and whispered something in the doctor's ear, and he nodded in agreement, before leading the two down an extremely clean looking hallway.

"Ms. Potts, Mr. Banner," The doctor said as he stopped outside Tony's designated room, "It took many hours of surgery, but Mr. Stark should be able to heal fairly well. He'll have some scarring around his wrists, and a few other places, but…" He gestured that the two should enter the room.

What they found inside was not what they expected.

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Tony was sitting up, completely conscious and apparently very aware. He grinned when he saw his girlfriend and his best friend in the doorway, both with their mouths wide open in shock.

"Miss me?" He asked snarkily. Pepper laughed in shock, a large smile crossing her face before she moved forward as if in a dream to take his hand.

"You complete asshole," She said, "You are such a jerk, scaring me like this again!" Tony received several not-so-gentle hits on the arm.

"I love you too, Pep." He said pressing her hand to his lips in a gentle kiss, before looking over at Bruce and the doctor, who wore matching expressions of disbelief. Both checked Tony's dosage count at the same time, their eyes bugged.

"C'mon Brucey, if 600 mils doesn't knock me out for five minutes, what makes you think that 2000 will for more than an hour?" Tony chuckled. Pepper settled on the open section of bed by his side, his hand clasped between hers.

"God above," Bruce said, shaking his head, "I'm glad to see you're okay, Tony."

"Ah, what's a few more pints of blood here and there?" Tony shrugged, the barest hints of pain flashing in his eyes at the movement, "Is MODOK…?"

"Gone." Bruce clarified, satisfaction crossing his face, "As if all of A.I.M."

"Doubt it," Tony muttered, "Bunch of stupid little wasps, if you ask me."

"You think some of them escaped SHIELD?"

"I think there are more of them than SHIELD realizes. A.I.M. is more like ants, I suppose. You see, they have anthills everywhere. Little nests that they can take refuge in if they want. SHIELD just got on little anthill." Tony said.

Reality hit Bruce, and he realized Tony was right. A.I.M. was far from done with. With or without their leader, they would be back.

And Tony would be the first person they would go after.

**So, guys, what do you think? It's the end! Ta-da! My first story, complete! Yay! **

**Thanks for being amazing readers! And followers! And favorite-ers! **

**The reviews really helped this story along (if you ignore my haitus), and you guys really, just, wow. Thanks, guys. You're the best! *tears up* **

**So, the spoilers. They are down aways so I don't ruin anything for anyone the way MY JERK FRIENDS RUINED IT FOR ME, and please, do me a favor and DON'T review if you don't wanna see the spoilers! Thanks!**

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**_EXTREME _****SPOILERS!**

**So... OMFG! That movie! There are so many things I have to say to people who will actually understand, and I figured this was the place to do it. **

**So, number one. The new director! Shane Black directed this instead of Jon Favreau, and I don't think he did as good a job as Jon did. I don't know, I just kinda liked the first two's directing better. **

**2.) Bad-ass Tony! Wow, so much more fighting and so much more technique! Loved it! **

**3.) ALL THOSE SUITS. GOD DAMN, THAT WAS A LOTTA SUITS. If they have so many, they just can't spare one for me? :'( **

**That stupid Clean Slate protocol! WTH? I mean, yeah, you did it for Pepper blah blah blah, but did he really have to get rid of ****_all_**** of them? What's he gonna use in the next Avenger's movie? Huh? What then? **

**4.) His house! Gone! Poof! Maybe now he'll live in Stark Tower with the rest of the Avengers? **

**5.) LOL am i the only who stayed to watch the end scene credit? I love Tony Stark and Bruce Banner together! **

**6.) Did he really just fix his arc reactor like *that*? Why didn't he do it in the first place if it was that easy? THIS IS WHY I'M HATING ON SHANE BLACK. IT MAKES NO SENSE. And honestly, Tony without the freaking reactor is like Thor with mjolnir or Cap without his shield! This just isn't cool! At all! Whatsoever! **

**7.) That whole ending just makes me so upset! Like, I hate the whole thing! Hate it! HATE HATE HATE **

**8.) Speaking of endings, did anyone notice mine? I thought it had a nice tie-in to the movie. And really, the whole thing with me writing about AIM and whatnot is a huge coincidence. But the AIM in the the movie was nothing like the comic book AIM, which is what I'm basing my AIM on. **

**But really, my last paragraph or so is like shocking fitting. I'm bragging now, but I love that it fits in so well. :P **

**9.) Lastly, did anyone stay for ****_after_**** the end scene, that was after the credits? If you did, you are about as nerdy as I am. If you didn't, you missed out dude, hard core missed out. **

**TONY STARK WILL RETURN**

**On the screen, for all (and by all, I mean me, since I was the only one nerdy and fanatical enough to stay that long) to see. That's it. Right there. Robert Downey Jr. may or may not be playing Tony Stark again, but Tony Stark will for sure be in Avengers 2. **

**But without Robert Downey Jr., will it really be Tony Stark or some cheap copy? **

**But thank you, friends, for letting me get this off my chest! That movie really messed my inner nerd (and outer nerd) up. I regret nothing though, as much as I liked my understanding of Tony and the Avengers pre-IM3. **

**And the Avengers is still my fav Marvel movie to date. Anyone else think so too? **


End file.
